Six Impossible Things

God has been speaking a lot about dreaming. Dreaming, not so much the ones we have in our sleep, but in the sense of thinking about what could be possible. About our hopes, about our desires, about what we wish we could accomplish, about what could be accomplished not just by us but corporately as mankind colaboring with God.

I like this quote from Alice in Wonderland: "I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

God is calling us to day-dream again. To just wonder and imagine and create :) Don't worry about whether it is possible, or whether you have the resources, or the time to accomplish it. Just dream. It's like training our body, except this time, it is exercising our faith. And its fun! Challenge yourself to break down the limitations on those dreams. What can you imagine that you couldn't imagine before? There are many ways to pray. I believe this is one of the most powerful ways.

In fact, this kind of day-dreaming IS related to our dreaming at night. When we sleep, we don't control our dreams. We let our minds explore and wonder. We imagine crazy things. That's why it is so much easier for God to speak to us in our dreams when we sleep.

I ask God why it is so important to dream. I'm not interested in accomplishing things in this world, or achieving success. All that matters to me is intimacy with Him. And He says, "You don't understand, when love is at its fullest, it gives us permission to see the fulfillment of our desires. One can only move into his destiny when he understands who is supporting him and believing in him." It brings God great joy to see our dreams fulfilled.

Why then do we need to dream, even impossible things that might never be accomplished? I saw a picture of a small bowl, and God is trying to pour into this bowl but everything keeps spilling out. Then, the bowl got bigger and bigger and bigger, and a flood came, but the flood could not fill the bowl.

Our dreams are the skeleton on which God will breath his Spirit and his life into. It is the first step. He will then put tendons and flesh and skin on the bones, and He will breath into the body. See Ezekiel 37:1-14. The valley is full of dry bones, dreams which have been crushed, hopes which have been dashed. But God is here to resurrect them, and the time is now.

Platform from which to create

From "Dreaming with God" (Bill Johnson) Pg 47:

[...] Most great ideas are actually the offspring of other concepts. Years ago I bought a jazz album on a whim. I eagerly looked forward to something fresh and new as I placed the album on the turntable. But I was horribly disappointed. It sounded like a child randomly pounding on a piano, with no melody or harmonies, no consistent rhythm, nothing to give it purpose or direction. Coincidentally, I found a magazine article by the same musician a year or so later. In that magazine he described a particular season of his life in which he tried to be completely original, without being influenced by any other musicians. He referred to it as a dark season of his life. It was obvious to me that I had purchased the bad fruit of his bad season. He went on to give what has become for me a profound lesson on creativity. He said that to really be creative he had to go back to what he had learned from others, and use that as a platform from which to create.

Wow, sometimes I think I try too hard to do something different. In fact, sometimes the difference between awesome chicken rice and normal chicken rice is the pandan leaf. What if God is giving us the small keys that will make a huge difference? What if we are the small key?

How He Loves

I was running frantically through the crowd. I had to get to the train station by 6:45pm, or I might have to wait an hour for the next train. Then, I thought: this is silly, I shouldn't worry at all, God is taking care of me, everything will be alright. I slowed down and looked to the ground in shame. "Sorry Lord, I don't know why I worry so much. I know I should be a warrior, not a worrier. But I keep falling back into my worries. I guess I haven't learned what it means to trust you." He looked at me and said, "what are you talking about?! Let's get running! Haha, come on, let's go!" And he dashed ahead of me, taunting me to catch up.

I stared at him in disbelief. I didn't know what to think. Shouldn't he tell me everything will be ok? Or perhaps he knows I'm going to miss my train? I ran after him. Finally, we reached the train station. It was a lot of fun.

I looked at the departure board. The train was going to arrive at 7:10pm, not 6:45pm. In fact, it was delayed by another 45 mins past 7:10pm. Good, that gives me time to get dinner, I thought. But I wondered why he ran with me, if he knew I was going to catch the train even if I walked? "Because I care about how you feel," he said. "If someone else was worried, wouldn't you do the same?"

A few days later, I was taking a shower, and I asked him about that again. "Lord, isn't the root cause of my worry my lack of trust in you? Why didn't you just speak the truth to me, that you are taking care of me? That would have cured me of my root issue." He smiled and replied, "that's one of the causes but its not the root." He paused. My mind raced through the other possible causes.

"I wanted you to know that I love you. I care about how you feel, no matter whether those feelings are justified or not. I would run anywhere and do anything stupid, as long as it is with you." He continued, "if you knew how much I love you, you would not worry." He smiled :)

Oh! How he loves us! I want to love others the same way, the same generous crazy way!

His Presence

It has been ten years since I first knew Him. Since then, He has made me stronger and wiser, but the deepest thing I experienced never changed: it is His presence. His glory blew me away the first time He met me there, and today He still causes me to become undone. No revelation or vision or dream or blessing or achievement compares with it. I already had the most precious thing He could offer from that first day, and I want nothing more from Him.

A few friends encouraged me recently on the way I pursue His presence. This made me think a lot. I don't think of myself as being disciplined or hardworking in this aspect. I do know that I have had many hurts and sorrows in the last ten years, and He is the only one who could comfort and console me. I did not pursue Him; He was the one pursuing me. I am a broken man. I don't have anything to brag, except that He loves me. Deep in my heart, I have nothing to offer Him but my brokenness. But He seems happy just to have that from me.

Today, I am going to do something bold, something I've never done on my blog before. I have a strong feeling about this. I feel like if you are reading this, God wants to tell you something. Do you feel a tug in your heart? Do you feel a warmth in your head and neck? He is saying, "I love you. Son, let me. You don't need to do anything. You are all that I want from you. You may not know this, but I think you are awesome. I have always believed in you. You make me laugh, you make me cry. Come, let me. Let me surround you, let me hold you, let me wash your wounds, let me make you whole, let me satisfy you, let me make you happy. Give me a chance, I promise to be gentle, I promise to be easy. I want you to know that I accept you, everything that you are, you don't have to change. Is this for real? That's up to you, son. Your emotions are yours, your thoughts are yours; I will not control what you think or feel, I gave you this freedom the day I created you. But I am for real, and I am for you; that's really all I want you to know."