“Mommy, I have to potty.” I think those are some of the most torturous words you can possibly hear at 3 o’clock in the morning. It’s not the urgency of the words, it’s the repetition of broken sleep night after night. As you climb back into bed with cold feet and deep weariness, all you want to do is recapture that last fleeting image of the dream you were having. Was it a flying dream? Was it a romantic dream? Was it the dream where you are late to class and realize you have forgotten your clothes? Finally, you begin to drift, to soar, to climb to wherever your dreams take you.
Did you know that dreaming isn’t frivolous? It is actually one of the miracles that God hardwired us with, that we actually have to dream at night to wake rested. If we don’t dream or achieve that deep sleep known as REM sleep where we dream, then we will live in exhaustion.
It is actually the lack of REM sleep that makes life so difficult with an infant, or a potty training toddler. It’s not that you aren’t getting enough sleep, but because your sleep is so broken, you aren’t getting the right kind of sleep. Our bodies struggle to keep functioning, but they are struggling against their design. Because no matter how inconsequential the dream may seem, we were designed to dream.
It is my belief that our nocturnal need for dreams isn’t the only place where we need dreams. Dreams enable us to see beyond what our eyes are telling us, to hope further than we can reach.
It is in dreaming that the flicker of possibility ignites, and there really is no telling the reach of the bonfire that can roar from a simple dream. We need dreams in our lives to stay healthy and energized. We need them in our hearts to hope, believe, and move forward. We need them for our children so that the hoped for joy of tomorrow invigorates today. And we need dreams for our finances so that we can have purpose and joy in what God has entrusted us with today.
In this time of dark economic clouds and rumblings of failure, we need to dream more than ever before. There is a temptation in the face of darkness to pull back to the place of necessity and deprivation. Like a mother of a newborn, we hoard the little we have, thankful to just close our eyes and rest, but we miss out on the restoration of our souls as we let go of our dreams. Just like that sleepless mother, we can do it for a little while but we cannot thrive in that place of deprivation.
No matter what is facing you on the horizon, God has placed those dreams in your heart for a reason. Do you dream of doing missions in Africa? Do you dream of owning your own business where you get to create every day? Do you dream of vacations with your family, or traveling to exotic lands? Do you dream of getting out of debt and being free to start your financial life again? Do you dream of having children? Do you dream of owning your own home? Do you dream of touching the world through something you have made or created? There are as many dreams as there are people, because for every one of us, God dreamed of us first.
His dream for us is not bound by the economy, or circumstances, or the government. His dream for us is filled with hope that we will choose Him, and follow after Him. He dreams that we will shine so brightly with His reflected glory that all men might know Him. God dreams big, and we were made in His image. It is time to dream again.
Budgeting without dreams is like car without oil. Dreams give the whole machine grace. It reduces friction and burnout. It flows throughout the entire system to keep that engine moving in a common purpose, and that purpose is to get you where you want to go. Figuring out your budget isn’t just about putting the parts of the engine together. In the budgeting process, you also have to look at why you are saving money? What is your motivation for getting out of debt? Why not buy the big TV and put it on the credit card? Why do you want to budget? To get answers to these questions, you are going to need to ask yourself, “What is your dream for your life?” Because when you finally identify your dreams, you will discover the oil that makes the whole budgeting machine so successful.
Dream because you were designed to dream. Dream because God dreamed of you first. Dream because it is the oil that God has designed for your life. And if all of these aren’t enough reason, dream because you can’t afford not to.