Dreams happen on God’s timetable. Pushing for your own dream, rushing it, or doing it all on your own results in nightmares. It is best to put to rest the nightmare.

The rush
Things happen on God’s time table, not ours. God’s dream? Descendants as numerous as sand on the sea-shore. Abraham and Sarah were not exactly at the begatting years. Getting nervous and desiring God’s promise, they rush the dream. This resulted in Ishmael which had lasting consequences. The Middle East peace crisis started from this rushing of dreams. God provided Isaac. Don’t rush it!

The obnoxious
God gives dreams for His benefit more than ours. Joseph exemplified the spoiled brat routine. God granted Joseph a dream. Joseph loudly proclaimed the dream to his family and he rubbed it in. It didn’t help matters when Jacob spoiled Joseph. Few handle a loud mouth well. Joseph rubbed it in, and his brothers rubbed him out. The first half of his story is down down down. Joseph learned in the end. God meant it for good.

The angered
God allows opposition to dreams. The best and longest lasting dreams go through a crucible. They walk through the desert. The hardest opposition you will face is from God’s people. Look at Moses. Can you imagine leading a grumbling, complaining group of people? (The Apostle Paul went through this as well.) The masses viewed Moses as a failure. Again, crying out for water, Moses gained instructions from God (smart move) and then out of anger did not follow God’s instructions. Moses lead people to the promise land, but Moses did not enjoy the promise land. Choose grace not bitterness when faced with opposition.

The mimic
God shows Himself uniquely in you. There really isn’t a book on how to accomplish the dream God gives you. One of the biggest nightmares you can have is trying to be like someone else. God states in Deuteronomy 17 that “when you desire to have a king like everyone else…” This trek started in 1 Samuel. God wanted to be king, but Israel wanted a human ruler like everyone else. This lead to division and the ultimate downfall of Israel. Despite falling & failing, Israel awaits restoration. Learn from others, but don’t mimic. Focus on who God wants you to be.

The lazy
God expects us to move forward and live while we wait for His timing. Christ promised to return at any moment, known at the rapture. Some in the Thessalonian church sat and waited for it to come, and so the puritan work ethic was formed: no work, no eat. If you want your dream, work towards it, live, enjoy life, but in this wait for God’s timing. God uses the faithful. and the repentant.

The requiem
If you want a requiem for the nightmare, sing “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.” Nightmares result when we think the dream is about us. I am sorry, IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU! You are precious to God. God paid dearly for you. God intimately and artistically made you. God delights in you being you. But make no mistake about it, God did all of this to reflect His glory off of your life.

The Bottom Line:
There is a lag between God clarifying His dream for your life and it happening. The nightmare happens when we cease to patiently wait upon God and skip the lag time. The scriptures describes a massive wake of damage by people who rush their dream. Focus on this key thought:

“Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings lie eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.” ~ Isaiah 40:31