We all have dreams. Some dreams vanish as we wake up. But many dreams get us excited! It starts out as a thought, which, when meditated upon long enough becomes a goal, and the motive of accomplishment follows. Although dreams are good, the endurance to bring a dream to life successfully is not the track a lot of people choose to run. More often than not, and in some areas of our life, we do not always finish what we start.
In Mark 4:1-8* Jesus talks about the parable of the seed:
And again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea. Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching: “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. And some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased, and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.
Second Corinthians 9:10 says: “Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness.”
I love these two scriptures. I believe that many of the dreams that we have are seeds of desire that God Himself has placed within our heart. To each sower, He gives a unique seed. As with everything else, we have the responsibility to do what is right with that seed. The Bible says that He will multiply the harvest, but it does not say that He will plant the seed and nourish it until it grows to the point of harvest.
What do we do with our dreams? Do we allow doubt to steal them away? Do we discard them prematurely when we don’t see them work within our anticipated timeline? Do we allow ongoing challenges to shut us down, or do we build them right?
If God is not at the forefront of everything we want to do, then we are building on sinking sand. I love the Bible for this reason because it is so personal. Jeremiah 29:11 says: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” It also says: “As you seek me with all your heart, you will find this plan” (see verse 13).
It is not that we need to beg God to reveal what His extraordinary plans are. It is enough to simply be in a close relationship with Him. He longs for that. As we make that effort, He slowly but surely unveils His plan and future for us.
* All Bible texts are from the New King James Version. Copyright ã 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Nithya Susan Sunil is a professional pastry chef based in India.
