I never really liked putting labels on myself. I trained as a chef but I don't say "I'm a chef" and I like to write but I wouldn't say "I'm a writer." I find it strange to attach one particular part of my skill set with the words "I am". It could wrap my identity up in a 'tag' that would entice a set of expectations from others. But the one that's troubled me the most is "I am a visionary." It's one I've identified with over the years but struggled to claim as my own. I would see "visionaries" doing amazing things and couldn't relate. Often my visions were in the confines of my mental space, desiring an expression. For example:
When I was a child I had crazy outlandish visions of being in Ethiopia and feeding long lines of hungry children out of a pot of food.. I dreamed of owning companies where I could help people who couldn't afford to afford..
My visionary bent was wrought in the small hours of the night as I lay in bed with babies and envisioned what their bedrooms could look like if changes were made and furniture re-arranged. Things like this would keep me up at night; dreaming, recreating. In the creating and recreating in my mind the visionary in me was being awakened- As a stay at home mother who just wanted a better setting for my babies.
Then came the local community. As I would lie in bed listening to young people roam the streets outside late at night, I would dream for them. I imagined a place for young people to gather and find safety; to be cared for and nurtured at all hours of the day and night. I envisioned a shelter for them with rooms where multiple opportunities availed and blank canvases were waiting to be painted. The strategy about how this would unfold was also downloaded from a Place where solutions are designed by a Loving Creator who "directs the steps" of the man/woman who plans their way (Proverbs 16:9).
I believe dreams and visions are gifts from God. And unlike my one year old niece who received many gifts this weekend for her birthday and didn't acknowledge the givers, I believe we have an obligation to acknowledge the Giver of these dreams. A gift does not come without a gift-er. The gift to dream and envision doesn't make us better than others who don't have this gift, it just gives us a different responsibility. It means we have strengths in areas others are weak but we sure do have areas of weakness where we need others' strengths.
We are stewards of the gift (being a visionary) AND the extension of that gift being unwrapped (the dream or vision.) To be faithful to the stewarding of the gift, it means we have to unwrap it to see how we can use it. Don't down play what is meant to be played out. Don't comatose the dream that is meant to be lived out!
Recently I attended a conference where the story of Judas was unlocked. Yes, that called disciple who betrayed his leader and led him into his destiny by the choices he made. The speaker (Alicia Britt Chole) talked about how he was the treasurer but he went from being a steward to being an owner and feeling entitled. She said "Ownership is fists closed, stewardship is palms open." We can do the same thing with our visions. We can hold them too tightly in fists closed rather than opening our palms and allowing God to do with them what He wants.
Sometimes I have found myself not been fully obedient to the Dream Giver's directions because I saw the vision as my own. I felt like I had the choice to let this dream become a reality or not as I held an open gift in my hands with my fists closed. I was not fully understanding that God Himself wanted to see this vision become a reality THROUGH ME, not for me (not for my benefit but for the benefit of others). So I learnt to trust Him to work out the details in making the dream a reality. Often that meant that others were involved. When we have received something that is obviously not our own, we are called to steward it with open hands. This means being willing to allow others to join in the implementing of the vision, in the contribution to the vision and in the execution of its strategy.
If it is a God dream then you have to know it's bigger than one person and that God has given the same dream to another person in some way or form according to his own ability-it may be according to the ability you need for the dream to come alive that you don't possess. He will strategically align you to bring formation to the structure and build a greater foundation for the building of the dream. But we must be careful to keep Christ as the chief Cornerstone. We leave Him out of the dream and it is sure to crumble. I write that from experience.
God knows what we are capable of doing and He will give us a custom size dream proportionate to our capacity. I know what it feels like to have a vision though and feel like it's beyond my capacity. He builds capacity in you before He fills that capacity with all the ability to fulfill the dream. In that way, we are able to remember WHO's the dream is, when it's far beyond our grasp. That capacity building season may feel like a stretching pain. Bobbie Houston called it "Glorious Tension" at a recent Sisterhood meeting. She said "Faith is not designed to break us. We break IN the stretch. It's to take us into new places, spaces and territories."
Visions become reality after time, as we faithfully steward the gift, open it's contents and assemble this glorious God dream. They often become a reality after a time where it seemed like it isn't ever going to happen and maybe was never meant to be in the first place: Just after the dream dies and you fully surrendered it to God and gave up thinking it was your own, it will come to BE.
See I've walked this path that leads to dreams finding their expression before and I have learnt. I have learnt from mistakes being made and I've learnt from positive experiences too. I've learnt that the Dream Giver is BIG and His supply is bountiful. So don't be afraid to say "I'm a visionary" and don't be afraid to dream big and share those dreams with others. It's your responsibility. It's His gift to you. He must think you're capable of making it come into the place of reality or He wouldn't have given it to you in the first place right?
Look at your dream from a different perspective.
When I was a child I had crazy outlandish visions of being in Ethiopia and feeding long lines of hungry children out of a pot of food.. I dreamed of owning companies where I could help people who couldn't afford to afford..
My visionary bent was wrought in the small hours of the night as I lay in bed with babies and envisioned what their bedrooms could look like if changes were made and furniture re-arranged. Things like this would keep me up at night; dreaming, recreating. In the creating and recreating in my mind the visionary in me was being awakened- As a stay at home mother who just wanted a better setting for my babies.
Then came the local community. As I would lie in bed listening to young people roam the streets outside late at night, I would dream for them. I imagined a place for young people to gather and find safety; to be cared for and nurtured at all hours of the day and night. I envisioned a shelter for them with rooms where multiple opportunities availed and blank canvases were waiting to be painted. The strategy about how this would unfold was also downloaded from a Place where solutions are designed by a Loving Creator who "directs the steps" of the man/woman who plans their way (Proverbs 16:9).
I believe dreams and visions are gifts from God. And unlike my one year old niece who received many gifts this weekend for her birthday and didn't acknowledge the givers, I believe we have an obligation to acknowledge the Giver of these dreams. A gift does not come without a gift-er. The gift to dream and envision doesn't make us better than others who don't have this gift, it just gives us a different responsibility. It means we have strengths in areas others are weak but we sure do have areas of weakness where we need others' strengths.
We are stewards of the gift (being a visionary) AND the extension of that gift being unwrapped (the dream or vision.) To be faithful to the stewarding of the gift, it means we have to unwrap it to see how we can use it. Don't down play what is meant to be played out. Don't comatose the dream that is meant to be lived out!
Recently I attended a conference where the story of Judas was unlocked. Yes, that called disciple who betrayed his leader and led him into his destiny by the choices he made. The speaker (Alicia Britt Chole) talked about how he was the treasurer but he went from being a steward to being an owner and feeling entitled. She said "Ownership is fists closed, stewardship is palms open." We can do the same thing with our visions. We can hold them too tightly in fists closed rather than opening our palms and allowing God to do with them what He wants.
Sometimes I have found myself not been fully obedient to the Dream Giver's directions because I saw the vision as my own. I felt like I had the choice to let this dream become a reality or not as I held an open gift in my hands with my fists closed. I was not fully understanding that God Himself wanted to see this vision become a reality THROUGH ME, not for me (not for my benefit but for the benefit of others). So I learnt to trust Him to work out the details in making the dream a reality. Often that meant that others were involved. When we have received something that is obviously not our own, we are called to steward it with open hands. This means being willing to allow others to join in the implementing of the vision, in the contribution to the vision and in the execution of its strategy.
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them.
“So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
If it is a God dream then you have to know it's bigger than one person and that God has given the same dream to another person in some way or form according to his own ability-it may be according to the ability you need for the dream to come alive that you don't possess. He will strategically align you to bring formation to the structure and build a greater foundation for the building of the dream. But we must be careful to keep Christ as the chief Cornerstone. We leave Him out of the dream and it is sure to crumble. I write that from experience.
God knows what we are capable of doing and He will give us a custom size dream proportionate to our capacity. I know what it feels like to have a vision though and feel like it's beyond my capacity. He builds capacity in you before He fills that capacity with all the ability to fulfill the dream. In that way, we are able to remember WHO's the dream is, when it's far beyond our grasp. That capacity building season may feel like a stretching pain. Bobbie Houston called it "Glorious Tension" at a recent Sisterhood meeting. She said "Faith is not designed to break us. We break IN the stretch. It's to take us into new places, spaces and territories."
If you have gone through season after season of stretching, you have to know that your harvest season is a place of greater capacity.
Visions become reality after time, as we faithfully steward the gift, open it's contents and assemble this glorious God dream. They often become a reality after a time where it seemed like it isn't ever going to happen and maybe was never meant to be in the first place: Just after the dream dies and you fully surrendered it to God and gave up thinking it was your own, it will come to BE.
See I've walked this path that leads to dreams finding their expression before and I have learnt. I have learnt from mistakes being made and I've learnt from positive experiences too. I've learnt that the Dream Giver is BIG and His supply is bountiful. So don't be afraid to say "I'm a visionary" and don't be afraid to dream big and share those dreams with others. It's your responsibility. It's His gift to you. He must think you're capable of making it come into the place of reality or He wouldn't have given it to you in the first place right?
Look at your dream from a different perspective.
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