What dream do you dream?

Guy Willcock
Oct 5, 2017
4 min read

Several years ago my Mother in Law bought my wife and I tickets for a West End show as a Christmas gift and we went to see Les Misérables.

At the show I was struck by the emotions that were released in so many around us by the story and in particular when the song I dreamed a dream was performed. A line from the song, made famous once again by Susan Boyle (who will ever forget her audition on Britain’s got talent) in 2009, particularly struck me – "Life has killed the dream I dreamed."

For many of us dreams we have had may feel like they have been shattered to pieces on the ‘floor’ by circumstances or how others have treated us (how would Joseph have felt in the well, as a slave and in the prison……………………?) However as we laid that night in our hotel in London I was reminded by God that this Life (this side of eternity) cannot kill the dream he dreams for us.

We see from the book of Genesis in Eden where God planted man we had God’s presence, abundance of food, a great climate and authority directly from God to rule and reign over this earth but then we chose not to follow him and turned from him. However, because God’s dream has always been to be with his people he chose not to turn from us but to step into history and the biggest step in was the birth of Jesus (John 1:14). Jesus not only dwelt on this earth but by his sacrificial death allowed us eternal access to God both now and in the future (The New heaven and the New earth – Revelation 21:1-5).

You see the Bible would suggest God has the following dreams (among others) for us:

To be in healthy relationship with one another and him
To dwell with us
To bless us
To do ‘us’ good

Despite these ‘dreams’ there is a struggle in this life as we all battle at some point several or all of the following challenges - sin, suffering, sickness, hardships, poverty. How does the reality of these struggles ‘stack’ up with the promise we are given in Psalm 37:4 – that the Lord will give us the desires of our hearts?

I believe the answer lies in allowing God to change our hearts and realign our dreams. You see verse 3 of Psalm 37 says: Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. And then the first sentence of verse 4 – take delight in the Lord…………………………. ‘THEN’ he will give you the desires of your heart.

If despite our challenges and sometimes overwhelming feelings we trust God, delight in him and do good wherever we find ourselves he can use us to bring in the world described in Revelation 21:1-5, which ultimately is what we all dream about deep down!!

I want to end this blog with two biblical characters who had their dreams shattered but God used them in bringing about his dream to dwell with his people eternally.

The characters are Naomi and Ruth from the book of Ruth.

Naomi was married with two sons and from Bethlehem. A famine came to the land and her husband took her and the family to sojourn in Moab and the sons married, she would have dreamed of having a long family life with the addition of grand-children, but we read that after ten years the sons and the father died. Naomi hears that the Lord had visited his people and that there was no longer a famine so she plans to return to her homeland telling her daughter in laws to stay in Moab because she knew that:

(A) herself (Naomi) was too old to conceive – therefore being unable to give the widows brothers to marry as was the custom in that time if a husband died, and she knows

(B) that the daughters in- law are not getting any younger and would be regarded as foreigners in her homeland so would not find a groom. However one of her daughter in laws, Ruth

(despite her dream of having a family seeming lost forever) decides to stay with Naomi and Naomi pleads with her not to but when Ruth insists she allows her to live with her and encourages her to find work in the fields; where she meets Boaz who is a distant relative of the family and can under the customs of the time buy the field that Naomi still owned (which she would need to sell to sustain herself) and as part of the transaction marry Ruth (who was by the way attracted to Boaz if you read the text clearly), he marries Ruth and she has a son Obed, Obed is the grandfather of King David – and it is from the line of David that Jesus the Messiah came – the one who would set his people free – born in Bethlehem .

Naomi and Ruth Trusted in The Lord, did good, found safe pasture and the desires of God’s heart (as encapsulated for all his people in Jeremiah 32:38-41) were met. His greatest desire the salvation of souls was also met; as a result of their obedience Jesus the messiah was born from their family line!!!

Wherever you are today, trust God, delight in him, do good and find safe pasture in your heart

(where God dwells by his Spirit) and he will fulfill the desire he wants to place deep in your heart and you will help him fulfill his desires.

Next week we will look at how Susan Boyle’s dream ‘to be the next Elaine Paige’ came to pass and I will discuss the benefits of knowing Jesus so well, this blog will be based around the lyrics from the duet performed by Elaine Paige and Susan Boyle – I know him so well (from the musical Chess).