Dreams only go so far.
Ever hear the quote “Dreams don’t work if you don’t”? And although I partially agree with that statement, I think there’s more to dreams than just working because I believe dreams require more than work.
Dreams require God and others.
This past Monday we celebrated Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day and in the midst of the celebration, I was reflecting on the idea of dreams. In the USA we know about MLK in a sense of his '“I have a dream speech” but also (hopefully) because of other things he did and said in the civil rights movement of this country. His words and action went way beyond that speech in Washington D.C. but for the rest of the world, most people probably know him for mainly that speech. Here’s an example of what else he did.
But as we remember Dr. King and all he did for us as a true historical intercessor, I can’t help but think of our present time in 2022. We live in a time where racism still exists and doesn’t just exist, it’s running rampant in many ways across this country. There is still voter suppression and segregation, although not so obvious as before, still very much exists.
So while Dr. King had a dream that he both communicated and worked to accomplish - there’s more that needed and still needs to be done to see his dream come to fruition. Those others things needed are God and others.
Dr. King was a man of faith and believed in the power of God - which is what I think was his biggest strength when fighting racism, segregation, and other forms of oppression. But he’s one man and his dreams, words, and actions couldn’t do it alone.
His dream could only go so far….
So who are the others that could help?
US! People of all different backgrounds and cultures. Humanity.
Not just in the USA, but across the world.
All dreams require God and others beyond just the dream the one person has. Because God provides the vision, strength, endurance, guidance, wisdom, strategy, and honestly - most of the weight for a dream to become a reality because He’s the one that can handle it the most. The dreamer itself provides the words to communicate the dream and initial actions to take in order for the dream to become a reality.
And then there’s us - the others. We provide the additional support, continued work, prayer without ceasing, and consistent momentum to make the dream become a reality. We saw that in the life of Abraham. God gave him a promise and a vision but he died one day and it was up to God and the people that came after Abraham to continue to live out the promise and vision.
God is always already doing His part - He’s BEEN doing that. So how do we become the ‘others’ needed to see MLK’s dream become a reality? To see human beings dignify other human beings. MLK’s Dream and God’s original plan and vision in Eden.
Additional Support -
How can we do more than what we are already doing? How can we support the dream of not just Dr. King but countless activists from the past and present that are doing frontline work daily to end injustices, fight for our freedoms, and bring heaven to earth? Exactly this - S U P P O R T. And this can look many different ways. From donating to praying to fundraising to bringing awareness to interceding when we see a real-life injustice happening in front of us. Here’s a Yas and Amen Podcast Episode that invites you to more ways to do this work in our everyday life
Continued Work -
Unlearning ways we are adding to societal racism, systemic racism, segregation, and oppression of specific racial/ethnic groups. For example, do you assume things about a specific group of people based on information or experience? Do you use your privilege for good? Not in a savior way but helpful way? Another example is, do you vote for someone because their policies seem to be aligned with the Bible but their words and actions are demeaning to specific people groups in society? Choosing to go the easier route of using the Bible instead of discerning who is the best fit to serve people in this country or in your local state/city.
Pray without ceasing -
Knowing and acknowledging that the work of justice and fighting is mainly done through the spiritual discipline and practice of prayer. Our best fighting against evil is prayer. Because let’s be clear racism is a sin and all forms of segregation are evil. So how do we fight evil and sin? Prayer and making it without ceasing. Believing in the power of the one who hears our cries, intercession, prayers, and pleads.
Consistent Momentum -
I think the biggest threat to any injustice is the trendiness of it. Because the enemy loves it when we hype up an injustice issue for a day and never talk about or only talk about it again when we feel it’s relevant. But justice is relevant every day because we live in an unjust, racist, segregated, and oppressive society. Therefore, consistent momentum is necessary to actually see an end to the evil and sin that comes about from racism and segregation. So what does consistent momentum mean? We get to consistently provide additional support, continuously do the continued work, and pray without ceasing. It’s actually that simple.
This Matthew 9 cripture gives us a glimpse into the realities of Dr. King’s dream. God sees that we are harassed and helpless without Him and He has compassion over us.
Therefore, He will provide laborers to do the work that is needed in this world - wherever the harassed and helpless are. Whether that’s you or your neighbor but God will provide and He may just provide by inviting you to do the work alongside with Him. And the thing about having dreams is that we know the end of the story. We know Jesus wins, so we get to enjoy
dreams and not dread them. We get to tackle them head on with loads of faith and immense hope. We get to remember that because we have God we can overcome anything. One of Dr. King’s famous words were “We shall overcome” and he was saying it in the context that we can move forward and face any obstacle that comes our way - especially in the area of injustice. The bible also talks about overcoming but in the sense that when we are in Christ, we have the victory already. So I pray that this is what you take away from these words. That our dreams are valid and beautiful. Our hard work matters and makes a difference. God empowers us and strengthens us to do so much. And with ‘others’ - combined with all the things I just shared, makes these things possible.
Dreams will only go so far but we need the faith to know God has overcome the world and every obstacle we’ll face and our overcoming is for His glory. We may not see all we do make a difference in our lifetime but know that nothing is wasted and God will use every sweat, prayer, action, word, fight, and thing you do in the bigger picture of His redemption story because the end of the story is GOOD.
It all began with a dream and it will surely end in victory, in Jesus’ name.
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And as always, ending with thoughts on noticing God’s goodness, wonder, worth, and His Word…..
Notice God’s Goodness - God is doing justice work on a DAILY basis around you. We can easily get discouraged when we watch the news and perhaps experience injustice ourselves but choose to notice God’s goodness and how He is doing good by doing His own justice work faithfully.
Wonder - I often wonder what would it look like if we all actually came together to make things like Eden again. To work alongside to restore what He originally designed and created. The Bible says, in the book of Revelation, that it will be so but I wonder if we’ll have a part in that or if it will be all God? I don’t think either way is bad since the ending result is good but it’s something I think about as I wonder daily how I can contribute to ending injustice in this world.
Worth - Justice issues always bring us to remember the worthiness of people. To remember that all people, not just believers, were created in God’s image. That we are worthy of being dignified because of who God is and what Jesus did for us. Regardless of our skin tone, education, background, language, faith, body type, sexual orientation, etc.
His Word - God’s word provides us with so much information, direction, and understanding about justice. And not just any justice but Biblical justice. I invite you to look at Jesus’ words in the gospels, the book of Exodus, Joseph’s story in Genesis, and the book of Habakkuk - where you’ll find examples of justice. And dive into the book of Revelation to remind you of the hope we have in Christ and how He overcomes it all with His victory!
