Tag Archives: dream

November 13, 2017

Woman of Valor: She Fights for Her Dream

A woman of valor who can find? For her price is far above rubies (Proverbs 31:10 JPS Tanakh).

A woman of valor is a warrior at heart. She fights for her faith, her family and her community. But sometimes, her toughest battles are for her God-given dreams. I wonder if some wars are harder than others because the enemy knows the stakes are so high?

I think back to our long years of infertility and my fierce fight to have a baby. I couldn’t have known it at the time, but I was waging a battle not just for our firstborn daughter, but also for our next baby, a son. Then another son. And now, four grandchildren and counting.

Our daughter recently said something to me which made me pause: “Mama, you didn’t know when you were going through all those years of infertility that you were also fighting for all these little people to be born,” pointing to our grandchildren.

Perhaps my fight was so fierce because the enemy wanted what I had—the promise of children and grandchildren who would glorify God. And ultimately, generations beyond those.

But I had something else the enemy wanted. And so do you. He wanted to steal my testimony. He wanted to make it impossible for me to tell the miraculous story of God’s healing that enabled me to have those babies. He wanted to rob me of the chance to encourage others who are waiting for answers to their own prayers.

Quite simply, the devil wants to steal the story God is weaving through your dream. Or through this trial you’re enduring so bravely. He wants to steal your testimony. In the end, he wants to steal God’s glory.

Dear friend, don’t give up. God is faithful. One day you will have a story to tell. A story that will cause others yearn to know this wonderful God Who is the Giver of Dreams.

Adapted from: Marilynn Chadwick, Woman of Valor: Discovering the Courage and Strength God Gave You (Eugene: Harvest House, 2017).

4 Comments | tags: dream, fight of faith, infertility, testimony | posted in courage, Proverbs 31 woman, The Fight of Faith, Woman of Valor

December 18, 2015

Day 30: Love Hopes All Things

By marilynnchadwick

I’ll never forget the time a good friend listened as I shared the special dream I held close to my heart. I hadn’t told a soul about my secret hope. She looked at me and said with conviction, “I’m believing with you that this dream–which I sense is from God–will come true!” Hope filled my soul. I breathed in fresh resolve to keep standing on what I believed was a promise from God. My friend was now “hoping with” me, and that gave me strength. It was Jesus Himself who said to his followers: “If two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven” (Matthew 18:19, 20).

Through a remarkable series of circumstances, my dream eventually came true. As someone once said, “Our dreams are the seeds of reality.” My hope did become reality–and I feel sure the “prayer of agreement” with my friend helped pave the way.

Love does that, you know. It shares the dreams of another. Love hopes with someone. When you think about it, hope is an action. A verb. It’s something you do. The Bible even tells us that hope is a practical way to show love: “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7).

Love hopes all things. That means that nothing within the realm of God’s will is off limits. Love also bears, believes, and endures all things. Love believes for our dreams to come true, endures with us when the going gets rough, bears with us when we get weary. Love characterizes God, for God is love (1 John 4:18).

We are called to carry His love into a broken and dying world. A weary people, desperate for the “thrill of hope.” So as we reflect on 30 Days of Hopeful, let’s rejoice in the wonderful assurance of God’s love for us–let’s get a fresh grip on our hopes and dreams.

The Bible tells us a secret: Faith, hope, and love are eternal (1 Corinthians 13:13). What’s more, love never fails. And love hopes all things, so a God-given dream cannot die. Because if our dream is His dream, He will work in us and through us to accomplish His will.

We’ve had 30 days to reflect on hope–30 days to rekindle the fires of our dreams. Moving forward, let’s remember to be alert and watchful as we go into the world today: Look around you. Whose dream is dying? Is there a hurting face in your crowd who needs hope–somebody you can “hope with?” What more fitting season than Christmas to sow seeds of hope into the lives of those who are thirsty for hope.

Leave a comment | tags: dream, hope, love, prayer of agreement | posted in Agree with Others in Prayer, Arm Yourself with Spiritual Strength, hopes and dreams

December 3, 2015

30 Days of Hopeful: Day 15

By marilynnchadwick

Some of your personal hopes and dreams may be big ones. Enormous, in fact. A baby. A spouse. The healing of a life threatening disease. God often says a quick “yes” to our prayers. But sometimes, He says “wait.” Perhaps we have some growing to do before the answer comes.

The reality of life on earth is that we are always waiting for something. Always hoping. Always dreaming. The challenge is to keep our hope alive in the middle of circumstances we don’t like so much.

We can learn to wait for our answers with joyful expectation. What we don’t want to do is give up. Accept the status quo. Lower our expectations, or worse, find ways to numb out. Too much social media, shopping, work, wine. There are plenty of pain killers out there. Problem is, they often kill our hopes, too.

Here are a few practical ways to kindle your fires of hope—even in the middle of a storm:

First take care of your house–your physical house, that is. You can’t control when your dream comes true, but you can take steps to clean up your act. Be sure to eat well and get enough exercise. Get rid of known sin. Bad habits. Be ruthless. Hunt them down. Hebrews 12:1 challenges us to “throw off whatever hinders and the sin that so easily besets…and run our race with perseverance.”
Take care of your actual house—your home. While you are waiting is a great time to declutter your surroundings. It can be healing to clear out what you don’t need. Give it away. Simplify. Create structure. Order. Peace.
Explore and develop your spiritual gifts. “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10). You’ll find your life as you give it away.
Rest more. Go to the Lord often. Soak in the promises of His Word. “Come to me you who are heavy laden,” said Jesus, “and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28-30). It takes energy to fight the fight of faith. To hold onto your hope while you wait for your dream.
Don’t travel alone. Find your teammates. God gives you endurance and encouragement through His Word to help you keep hope alive (Hebrews 15:4-6). He also gives us unity in spirit. Fellow believers. Prayer partners. The body of Christ.

Leave a comment | tags: dream, gifts, hope, pray, Serve, wait | posted in Agree with Others in Prayer, Answer God’s Call, Arm Yourself with Spiritual Strength, hopes and dreams, wait training

November 27, 2015

30 Days of Hopeful: Day 9

By marilynnchadwick

If we want to live in hope, we must guard against “hope-killers”—those pesky predators that seek to destroy our God-given dreams. One of the most insidious hope-killers is anxiety. Like a slow leak, anxiety drains out the belief that we can trust God with our future. It then fills us with a low-grade dread that steals our joy. No wonder mental health experts are disturbed by the growing numbers of those suffering from anxiety—now the most common mental illness in the U.S.

I’ve discovered a simple prayer that helps quench anxiety and build hope. It goes something like this: “Lord, I surrender this dream into Your hands. I trust You to answer my heart’s desire in a way that goes beyond what I even know to ask.” In other words, “Surprise me, God, with more than I can imagine.” I call this “praying beyond.” This prayer is right in line with the Bible’s encouragement to entrust our dreams to the One “who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think (Ephesians 3:20 NASB).

Praying beyond also helps me take my focus off the obstacles to my dream—or what I can see with my eyes—and fix my mind, instead, on God’s powerful promises. Praying beyond moves me out of the realm of fear into faith, fueling my hopes and dreams. Taking new territory. Walking on water.

Not too long ago, I was reading Ephesians 3:20 again—this time in a different Bible version. The words put a fresh twist on my “praying beyond” verse: “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think…” (Ephesians 3:20 NKJV).

I continued to ponder the words “above all” as I went for a run: “God, maybe You’re encouraging me to look down upon my hopes and dreams as though I’m seated up above with You in the heavenly realm. From where You’re sitting, I imagine my hopes and dreams look pretty easy—nothing’s too hard for You. I believe You’re able to do above all I can ask or think.”

I rounded the corner and jogged by several buses. Suddenly, I had to smile as I looked at the name on the side of one bus. Seemed God was making His point loud and clear…and His answer was above all I could ask or imagine.