Big Dreams

My four-year-old son Asher dreams of seeing God face to face. He also dreams of being a garbage collector someday. Of the two, I have actually found myself more fearful of the former dream. Why? Because it’s so BIG! When Asher first shared with me his longing to see God, I found myself wanting to warn him that most people don’t get to see God, at least not in the way he means. I was scared that if he never saw God he would be disappointed, and he would lose his faith as a result.

Shame on me! By trying to protect Asher’s faith, I was essentially going to weaken what was already a radical, unadulterated, childlike faith. I was going to pull his big dreams down to something I could swallow, something I could bless because it was doable and safe, and free of risk. I was just being a mom, trying to protect my kid. But what if by trying to protect my kids from their own big dreams, I am actually squashing their ability to live the big, exhilarating, world-shaking lives God wants them to live?

I believe our job as parents is to bless the big dreams of our kids, to encourage them rather than tame them down. This is hard, because as parents our gut instinct is to shield our kids from anything that could be painful. We have to trust that God is able to do more in our children’s lives than we can even imagine, and that even if our kids do find themselves disappointed at some point, God will be there to walk them through that.

That dream your daughter has to be a princess or to be the president? Bless it. Your son dreams of being a super-hero? Bless it. Your tone-deaf 18-year-old son dreams of trying out for American Idol? Well…I never said there wasn’t a place for loving intervention. My point is: our children’s larger-than-life dreams just may have been planted in them by God. As our kids keep hearing from God over the years their dreams may change a bit, but if we crush the seeds of those dreams now we could be crushing something God gave life to.

“Now glory be to God, who by his mighty power at work within us is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream of – infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts or hopes”
(Ephesians 3:20, TLB)

Dreaming things that are impossible to do without God’s help – that is faith! And allowing our kids to dream these types of dreams without setting a safety net in place – that is faith, too. And, honestly? I could use a little boost to my faith. The biggest dream I have right now is that one day I’ll be able to go to the bathroom without one of my kids nearly dying while I do. Let’s allow our kids’ big faith to stretch our own, and to remind us that God wants all of us to dream big with Him.

Other verses that inspired this blog: Jeremiah 32:27; Psalm 2:8; and Psalm 37:4.

Note: This blog originally appeared as an article at openbiblemessage.org