Dream - And Dream Big
- Category: Gospel Truth
- Date 07-02-2016
- 386 views
A dream occurs when a person is sleeping, with a series of ideas flowing through the mind. A celebrated psychologist, Sigmund Freud, explained that a dream is a visual display of a person’s deepest wishes and hidden feelings. Every person dreams, and some people take their sleep-time dreams seriously.
At another level, a person does not have to fall asleep in order to dream. When you are able to think about the fortunes that lie ahead in life, this is also known as dreaming. A dream is the mental picture you get as you think about the desired future. It a psychological image of a wanted state of life. It is the ability of an individual to notice the possibilities which are available in life. A person who dreams is able to feel that it is possible to achieve a certain goal.
“I HAVE A DREAM” is possibly the best speech in modern times. The Rev. Martin Luther King, a civil rights activist, spoke powerfully on 28th August 1963 as he criticised discrimination in the United States of America. A section of the population, mainly black Americans, were largely side-lined and King denounced the injustice as he preached that all people are created equal.
He summed up the speech with a vision of “…a day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing… ‘We are free at last.” It was a sweet, though strange dream. To this day, what King ‘dreamt of’ inspires many Americans and other peoples worldwide!
God gave us brains to dream irrespective of the dangers our dreams may seem to bring. Joseph was not afraid of dreaming although it seemed to work against him in the due course. He dreamt that while he collected wheat with his brothers in the field, his bundle suddenly stood upright while those of his brothers’ surrounded and bowed to it. In another dream, he saw the sun, moon and eleven stars bowing to him (Genesis 37:7-9). His brothers and parents were irritated when he told them about the respective dreams. However, all these were fulfilled when Joseph became Prime Minister of Egypt where the whole family went to live under his authority.
Joseph of Nazareth wished to marry the Virgin Mary but he discovered that she was pregnant, all of a sudden. As he began to make strategies calculations on how to abandon her, the Angel appeared to him in a dream and explained that Mary’s pregnancy was the work of the Holy Spirit. When he woke up, Joseph did what the Angel of the Lord had commanded him. He took Mary as his wife (Matthew 1:20-24). Since Joseph had a personal dream for marriage, earlier on, he got the opportunity later to interact with the Angel in his sleep. Every person must have a goal to achieve.
At Gibeon, the Lord appeared to Solomon at night in a dream and said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you” (1 Kings 3:5). Solomon asked for wisdom and God granted it along with many other benefits. Apparently, Solomon always desired to be wise, so it was not a sudden idea. The encounter with God was also an opportunity for him to express his desire and receive the blessing. To get God’s approval, therefore, you must know and express your specific wish.
When a person has a plan, executes it and gets positive results, they say, “I have realised my dream.” A student who works hard to pass and gets a first-rate score has realised a dream. A professional who deploys skills and gets the desired results has realised a dream. A worker who gets a promotion to a coveted rank has realised a dream. A gardener who plants passionately and harvests massive yields has realised a dream. An engineer who invents a new software has realised a dream. A couple that delivers a healthy baby has realised a dream.
Jacob got a dream in which he saw a set of ladders resting on the earth, its top touching heaven, while angels were ascending and descending on it (Genesis 28:12-13). Thinking through the dream, Jacob was able to understand what God needed and installed a pillar at Bethel which he proclaimed as God’s house. He was able to take action as a result of the ream. To succeed, you must dream and act on your dreams. It is meaningless to have a dream and fail to work towards fulfilling it.
Dreams are not regulated by backgrounds. No one should be scared of pursuing a personal dream simply because they afraid of where they come from: family, race, religion, economics or education. During the trial of Jesus, the advice to acquit him came from the most surprising source. Pontius Pilate was the presiding on the case when he received a message from his own wife, pleading that the case against Jesus should be dismissed. She reported that she had dreamt he was innocent (Matthew 27:19). The crowd writhed with temper but the woman did not fear to make her standpoint clear.
Some are sweet dreams while others are scaring. The point, however, is that we must dream if we want to get anywhere. An Irish pop group, Westlife, sings, “I have a dream, a song to sing, to help me cope with anything. If you see the wonder of a fairy tale; you can take the future even if you fail…. I have a dream… to help me through reality; and my destination makes it worth the while…I’ll cross the stream…”
Venansio Ahabwe is a lay Christian from the Archdiocese of Mbarara
By Venansio Ahabwe
Source: Gospel Truth, Leadership Magazine