Dreaming Bigger

Posted on by johnmarkmiller

The other day I was with my four-year-old son in the yard when we noticed an airplane zooming overhead.  

“If you could fly anywhere in the whole world, where would you go?” I asked.

Without hesitating, he cried gleefully, “McDonald’s!”

I laughed, but realized that because of his limited experiences, that probably was the greatest vacation destination he could imagine at the time.

And then I began to re-evaluate my own dreams.

Does God shake His head and laugh when I tell him about the dreams I’m clinging to?  To me they sound thrilling, sure, but to Him, do they sound as exciting as a trip to McDonald’s?

Ephesians 3:20 says that God is able to do “far beyond anything we could ask or even dream of.”  That tells me that He has plans for us that are infinitely greater than anything we can fathom…and here we are whining about a Happy Meal.

Whatever dreams you’re holding fast to, consider praying for His will to be accomplished in your life. For while we’re dreaming of McDonald’s, He wants to show us the galaxies…

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18 thoughts on “Dreaming Bigger”

    2. This is incredibly encouraging. I often get caught up in planning out my life and then get repeatedly disappointed when things don’t turn out how I planned. And then, two days later I learned something that makes my plan an awful plan. God works for our good in that way. We just need to trust him and and the galaxies he has planned for our future. Thank you for sharing!

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  5. I feel that way sometimes too when I’m talking to God at night about my dreams and about what I want. At the back of my mind, I think, God is listening and he has a way better plan for me with a higher purpose than I do.

    That’s why I always remind myself that I’m here to do His will and not my own. I keep planning the future in my head, but I really need to worry less and trust in God more.

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  6. Twenty-plus years ago, when I was in my forties, I had an assortment of dreams for my future. There was one dream that had been lingering inside of me since I was 10 years old, that dream was to live in a certain style house overlooking an inlet of water. At that point I figured the dream must be me and not God’s plan. I prayed for several years for God to remove that dream and every one of my dreams that weren’t His plan for me. Like the blogger above, my heart’s desire was to only fulfill His will and not my own. God brought several mature mentors into my life who taught me that God is the one who puts some of those dreams into our hearts. I can’t begin to remember how many times I laid down that dream and ‘died to it’. Another 20 years passed and when I least expected it, God orchestrated the fulfillment of our living at a location similar to the dream, much to my shock and surprise. I praise Him for it and am in awe. My blog and my in-process book are loosely based on it; both are also largely based on the elements of that dream that weren’t meant to be. I created on ‘paper’ the parts that were to die in the natural. I enjoyed your blog John Mark; keep on dreaming. He is able to do more than we can ask or imagine. Ephes 3:20

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  7. That really puts the idea of our dreams compared to God’s in perspective. I think a lot of times we are in a place in our life where we think we know exactly how things should be or exactly what we want out of life. But God always seems to step in and take us down a path that we never expected. Thanks for this post. It was a great reminder and encouragement!

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  8. Pingback: “Dreaming Bigger” – Empty Sketchbooks

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I'm a husband, father of two, pastor, private school principal and teacher who enjoys writing flash fiction as well as articles on life and art...thanks for stopping by!