"What If" Dreams Part 1: The Good Work and The Big Dream

Exciting Stuff

"...being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." (Philippians 1:6)

I got so much incredible stuff out of this section of the book that I am not sure where to start! I swear, I have typed and retyped the beginning of this post three times. Let me take a deep breath and back up a bit...sorry, guys. I'm so excited by what's going on here!

The Big Dream...But What About Inadequacy? What About Pride?

"What If" is all about the Big Dream. That's pretty clear in this section. I have a Big Dream. But I've been super confused about it, and I have been wondering if God has given me this Big Dream, or if it is something I've just carved out of my own imagination in order to suit a human desire for greatness.

So there I am, reading Batterson's section on What if?, and I can see that in the past, I've made God a little too small. Batterson's really quite good at showing us how big God is, and how trustworthy God is to follow through on anything He puts in motion. When God begins a good work in us, He carries it forward to completion. He's not going to respond to me tugging on His shirt sleeve by brushing me off.

See, I did tug on His shirt sleeve. I asked Him what my purpose is. I asked Him what He wanted me to do for Him with the rest of my life. He responded to me by giving me a Big Dream. And honestly, it freaked me out. I've been kind of ashamed to go talk to anyone about it because I've been afraid that it would be humiliating...

"Really? You, Tracy?
You really think you're going to [insert Big Dream here]?
Because you aren't nearly [insert thing I lack] enough.
And you aren't [insert another thing I lack here] enough.
And you CERTAINLY aren't [insert yet another thing I lack here] enough!"

I'm afraid sometimes, too, that the dreams are self-serving. I'm afraid that I am driven only my the desire for my own greatness. I was a little taken aback by Batterson's account of his bold declaration in his twenties, that one day, he would write books that would sell millions of copies. Isn't that prideful? Isn't that just a desire for personal greatness? If I dream a Big Dream, am I just getting puffed up and big-headed?

Batterson declares, "by definition, a God-ordained dream is beyond our ability to pull off." (page 141)

Wow. Yep, I am indeed inadequate. And yeah, the thought that I could do this maybe is a little self-serving. I mean, I LIKE the idea of greatness! But if it really is beyond my own ability, then it's got to be God that pulls it off. There's no place for pride there. Instead, there's got to be humility.

So God really is the originator of the Big Dream? It's surreal to me, and a little counter-intuitive, but I have to answer yes. Yes, God is the one that establishes our Big Dreams. He gives us the notions for the things that are great, the things that are too much for us to pull off.

Let's talk a little about pride, then, and why it scares the heck outta me.

Just the fact that it is a concern tells me that yes, God really IS in this. When it occurs to us that pride is a danger, God says to us, "Good. Now I can work on you. Now I can get that Big Dream going!"
If I have a concern about my own pride, then my response is going to be humbling myself before Him, submitting to Him, clinging to Him as I start to see bits and pieces of the Big Dream come together. God is the originator of the greatness that is in me. If He makes me a great writer and a great teacher, it's His work in me, and I need to submit it before Him. If I take that stance and keep prayer and worship at the forefront of my mind and my heart, then God is going to work that pride right out of me, or keep it from developing.

The build-up of pride scares me because that was Satan's sin. That is what caused all of the evil in the entire world. It's a terrifying trap, and I do not want to fall into it.

If I didn't have enough reasons to keep falling on my face before God, to staying gut-level honest with Him about every little thing I think and feel, and to seek Him for His truth in everything...my Big Dream is going to keep me right there in that position before Him.

THAT is the start of His good work in me! That frees me up to let myself start to pray over this Big Dream and see the possibilities. I can cease seeing God as small and start giving Him credit for being BIG. BIG, BIG, BIG!!!! HUGE!!!

Seek the Presence of God

I love my Big Dream, and I want to see this work come about in me. The way I'm going to see it is if I seek the presence of God. If I take a deep dive into His presence, it's GOING to happen. How do we take that deep dive and see the glory of God?

Get into His Word. Get into prayer. Get into praise. Get into gratitude. Get into joyfulness.

Remember our new habits:

• Be joyful always.
• Pray continually.
• Give thanks in all circumstances.

Batterson states, "When we get into the presence of God, it's like a slight yet sudden shift in barometric pressure. It takes time to acclimatize, but over time, the glory of God will manifest in any number of ways. Two obvious examples are the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit. The fruit is character and the gifts are capacities, but both are manifestations. It's the same word used in 1 Corinthians 12:7:

To each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given.

Each of us is a unique manifestation of God's Spirit. We might have identical gifts, but they are exercised through different personalities, in different contexts." (pages 146–147)

Worship creates the atmosphere. We get our minds off the stuff around us, and we get our focus on the Lord. Amazing things start to happen.

He's BIG, you guys. BIG.

We will hit this more in the next post, but please, please keep God at the forefront of your mind. He's started a good work in you, and He has BIG plans to see it through!

Prayer

Lord, I'm in tears as I sit here writing this and thinking it over. I am so grateful for the Big Dream you have planted in me, and I want very much to see it accomplished! More than anything, I want to see Your glory manifest in my life so that your Kingdom will expand and souls will be rescued!

I want any reader of this post to see Your glory manifest in them, as well! I pray for those readers right now, that they would start to seek You more and more, that they would work hard at creating that atmosphere through worship. Speak to their hearts right now, Lord. Impress on them how HUGE You are, and how You desire to keep pushing forward that good work in their lives! Nothing, NOTHING is beyond You, Lord, and if they will just seek you for the Big Dream, you will accomplish Your purpose for their lives!

I ask this in the BIG and mighty name of Jesus Christ! Amen!