Devotionals for the Heart: Dreams

Audacious Dreams
A devotional by Wade Webster

"For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength."

–Philippians 4:13 (NLT)

Here in the United States of America, school children are often taught this poetic statement, “In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue.”

Today (Oct. 12) is a special day here in the USA. This day was set aside to commemorate good old Christopher Columbus. That sailor who discovered the new world. There are a few interesting details about this voyage that should be looked at.

First off, he had a hard time getting funding for this historic event. It seems most governments were convinced the prevailing thought of that day was correct and the earth is flat with the oceans setting the edges of this supposed boundary.

Columbus kept two separate journals during the journey. One entered the accurate events and measurements that they were traveling according to the stars. The other one gave a more optimistic view of things. He hid the accurate one and kept the good news report available for the crew to see if they were curious about things.

When the three ships did find land again, they all thought they were on the west side of India. That's why they called the native folks Indians. They had no way of knowing there was another continent and an even larger ocean to cross before they reached that destination.

I'm sure there are even more interesting tidbits of information about this but those are the only ones I know of that I remember. The most important thing to keep in mind is that Columbus had an audacious dream that he believed in and followed through with. That's why we have this day in remembrance of him.

Many people have dreams. Most of them are small like where they want to go for their next vacation, or what color to paint the rooms next. Some folks have big dreams like getting a degree or going back to get a bigger degree to advance their career. Very few have audacious dreams, dreams that will change the world like Christopher Columbus did in his day.

The challenge with dreams is that they pull us out of our comfort zones. We like the familiar where we’re safe. We want to know what will happen next. We want to keep as much control of our lives as we can maintain.

God wants us to change the world for the better and to do that, we must dream out of our comfort zone. We need to read Philippians 4:13 (NLT) like we mean it: “For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.” And then we need to show the world what that looks like. Yes, this will shove you out of your comfort zone but that’s where God does his best work.

So, my friend, where has God been prompting you to go where you have not gone before? What can you do to change your part of the world for the better?

Even if all you can do is pray then pray like there’s power in every word you send to our Heavenly Father because there is great power there!

~*~
Author Bio:

Wade Webster is a farm boy turned city slicker, heathen turned born-again Christian, truck driver turned writer doing his best to point folks to his best friend, Jesus Christ.  

He currently lives in Plano, Texas.

Wade is the author of 100 Prayers of a Writer, a book that didn't begin as a book, just weekly prayers to a group of writer friends.

He enjoys spending time in nature, running for exercise and dark chocolate, though not necessarily in that order. Apart from driving 18-wheelers for a living he has a part-time job painting houses on the side...and the front and back and inside.

As a teenager, he told his friends he never wanted to be considered normal. So far he's done a pretty good job of living up to that aspiration.