How to Dream

James 13-17

13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we
will go into such a city, and continue there a year,
and buy and sell, and get gain:
14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow.
For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that
appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth
away.
15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we
shall live, and do this, or that.
16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such
rejoicing is evil.
17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and
doeth it not, to him it is sin.

Everybody plans; everybody dreams. Surely that is part of the image of God we bear. After all, the animal kingdom does not plan for, dream about, or consider the future. Only we humans do—a gift of God to use in carrying out our mandate as stewards of His kingdom-creation.

But planning has one caveat in Scripture: Who is the beneficiary of those plans? Proverbs 16:1-9 provides a number of guidelines for planning. Summed up, they say this: God’s plans take precedence over man’s. When we plan, we should leave room for God’s plans to change ours. James even provided an example to illustrate this principle (James 4:13-17)— businessmen made plans for the future but failed to remember God and are chided for their failure. We ought always to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” When we plan and dream with God in mind, we will always be content with His changes. We are not on earth to pursue our own glory or satisfaction, but God’s. Pursuing God’s best is what turns out best for us.

God has plans for this world, not problems. There
is never a panic in heaven. ~ W. Ian Thomas

Reference: www.davidjeremiah.org

The Grim Reaper Preacher says, "Try reading the Bible from cover to cover - you'll like it."