What are His dreams?

We so often speak about our dreams and desire to hear from Him what’s his dreams for us. The extent we would go to fulfil our dreams, to toil day and night, to persist and to commit, some because they are following through the societal norms of what’s best, some because they needed to put food on the table, and some who believe in the greater good and the cause of their dreams. I began to ponder.. what would be God’s dreams? Can His dreams be my dreams too?

 

“I have a dream,” Jesus proclaims to his fellow Galileans buckling under the weight of Rome. 

“I have a dream that one day those who are now grieving will be comforted, those who are now lowly and downtrodden will be in charge, those who are right now starving for justice will have their craving satisfied. 

I have a dream that one day his people will live in the fullness of life, they will show mercy toward others, make peace instead of inflicting violence and waging war.” 

“I have a dream that one-day oppression will cease and wars will be no more. The powerful and proud will be humbled and the lowly will be lifted, swords will be turned into plough and seeds of life will be planted for the flourishing of humanity.”

 

“I have a dream,” Jesus proclaims to the masses. 

“I have a dream that one day the last will be first and the first will be last, everyone on equal footing. The Jew will live alongside the Gentile, the rich will sit down with the poor, men and women and elders and children all will share their lives in mutual care and respect.”

“I have a dream that one day the lost will be found. The struggling, the sick, the stigmatized, the silent, the sinner, all will be brought into the banquet of God’s great love, and the very least will feast. 

I have a dream that one day the poor will hear good news for a change, the unwell will know true healing, the outcasts will be embraced, and those left for dead will experience new life.”

 

His dream for the world is like “the kingdom of God.”

God’s kingdom spreads quietly like yeast in dough. As we do these ordinary acts of love in the hidden spaces of the world, God’s dream begins to spread. It’s contagious. 

Grace begets grace. Forgiving others leads to others forgiving. Practising empathy and compassion encourages others to do the same. Joyful hospitality and generosity can multiply and spawn a community of open-handed and open-hearted people. His movement changes heart, which would change lives and our world. It changes the apathetic into activists, murderers into missionaries, fearful man into a man with boldness, and the hurt into healers.

 

Living God’s dream for His kingdom can get hard because it requires us to lose our lives in order to live; to also “deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow him.” To restore life to all that God has created it to be. 

It does not come about by an easy road, a life of comfort and ease, holding tight to our rights and privileges. It comes about by a narrow path, the path of willingly putting others’ before our own personal preferences, seeking His will over our own whims or dreams.