A Word for Our Arbor Family
Cultivating a Dream
What have you been dreaming about lately?
For several years, I’ve carried a dream about joy - one I’ve asked God to teach me through. In this dream, I began to sense what could only be His presence growing stronger and stronger, and it was revealed to me as joy. It was so intense I could spend a lifetime trying to describe it and still fall short.
I knew deep in my heart that the cares, anxieties, and fears of my life were no match for this joy. When I weighed them against it, they scattered like small stones skipping across the river I was standing in.
I woke suddenly, laughing aloud, with that joy still resting on me for a few fleeting seconds as I returned to consciousness. For days afterward, it lingered in me like a candle lit in my spirit. Even now, when I recall the dream, I can feel the flame flicker.
My habit is to ask God, "What does this mean? What do You want me to do with it?" Scripture tells us to rejoice always, and I believe this dream was a glimpse of His fullness of joy. The Word of God is filled with promises of joy, but like farmers tending their fields, we are called to cultivate the soil of our souls so His seeds can take root and grow.
This is our life’s work: to carry the garden of His presence into the barren places of the world, including our own hearts. God has already answered the what, but now the journey is learning the how.
I hold this dream as a precious gift - an encounter with God I return to often. It lives in my heart, a place I know I can revisit, though I don’t always feel like reaching for it. And that’s where the real work begins.
I must tend my heart-garden. I must make room for the Word to grow and thrive.
Let God bring to your mind the last time He spoke to you, and then ask Him: “What can I grow for You, Lord?”
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” — Philippians 4:4
What have you been dreaming about lately?
For several years, I’ve carried a dream about joy - one I’ve asked God to teach me through. In this dream, I began to sense what could only be His presence growing stronger and stronger, and it was revealed to me as joy. It was so intense I could spend a lifetime trying to describe it and still fall short.
I knew deep in my heart that the cares, anxieties, and fears of my life were no match for this joy. When I weighed them against it, they scattered like small stones skipping across the river I was standing in.
I woke suddenly, laughing aloud, with that joy still resting on me for a few fleeting seconds as I returned to consciousness. For days afterward, it lingered in me like a candle lit in my spirit. Even now, when I recall the dream, I can feel the flame flicker.
My habit is to ask God, "What does this mean? What do You want me to do with it?" Scripture tells us to rejoice always, and I believe this dream was a glimpse of His fullness of joy. The Word of God is filled with promises of joy, but like farmers tending their fields, we are called to cultivate the soil of our souls so His seeds can take root and grow.
This is our life’s work: to carry the garden of His presence into the barren places of the world, including our own hearts. God has already answered the what, but now the journey is learning the how.
I hold this dream as a precious gift - an encounter with God I return to often. It lives in my heart, a place I know I can revisit, though I don’t always feel like reaching for it. And that’s where the real work begins.
I must tend my heart-garden. I must make room for the Word to grow and thrive.
Let God bring to your mind the last time He spoke to you, and then ask Him: “What can I grow for You, Lord?”
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” — Philippians 4:4