Do You Let Yourself Dream? Revealing My Word For 2021

For the last two years, I have prayed for a word to focus on through the new year.

And like I have done for the past two years, at the end of 2020 I began praying for a word to define 2021. At the end of arguably one of the hardest years in modern history and also on a personal level, I sat down to pray through my quiet time. In that moment with the Lord, He impressed on my heart my word for 2021…dream.

My heart was suddenly filled with conviction as tears welled up in my eyes. I knew that this word had to be from God because “dream” would not have been a word I would have chosen for myself.

Read: To The Person With Broken Dreams

Actually, I have spent the last year purposely trying not to dream.

It’s easier to not dream. Sometimes, dreaming just feels too painful because we have had so many dreams crumble and break into a million pieces. And in all honesty, that’s where I found myself for a while. I have spent a lot of time this year grieving different things. In the wake of this brokenness, it so easy to put up walls and be bent on not hoping and not dreaming. What is the point if it just leads to more brokenness? At least, that’s how it was for me.

Especially with my health, it finally sunk it that apart from total physical healing of the Lord, there is no cure. With that came the realization that there are things my body is just not equipped to do no matter how much I want it to. And this plays into so many different areas for me. Areas like relationships, being a mother one day, trying to find a job or just feeling like I have purpose.

It all felt (and still sometimes feels) so impossible. In my human heart, it’s easy to sink into that place and those lies that say, “laying in bed is all you’re destined for”. Or, “you are not worthy of being loved well”. (But honey, these are lies from the pit of hell. So if you too find yourself entertaining thoughts like this, reject them in Jesus’ name and replace them with Scripture).

This word, “dream” was God’s way of saying to me that I had gone to bed too many nights with these lies only to wake up the following morning more broken and less likely to step into all that He desires to do in my life.

My word for 2021 was a reminder that He wants to me to dream God sized dreams. God want me to pursue Him in prayer, and watch as He does exceedingly and abundantly more than all I could ever ask or imagine. He wants me to trust that He is going to show up and do as His word says.

NOW TO HIM WHO IS ABLE TO DO EXCEEDINGLY AND ABUNDANTLY ABOVE ALL THAT WE ASK OR THINK, ACCORDING TO THE POWER THAT WORKS IN US.

EPHESIANS 3:20, NKJV

How in the world can He do more than I could ever ask or imagine in my life if I do not first bring my heart to Him, bare every little corner before the cross, and dare to dream… dare to imagine.

I really struggled with this because I believed God could do it.

After all, just one scroll through Instagram showed me God was still giving my deepest desires to others. He is still providing honest, godly husbands, still blessing couples with babies, still healing bodies from sickness. But overtime, I stopped believing He would do it in my life too.

When He dropped the word “dream” in my heart for 2021, I finally realized that I had been keeping that part of my heart from the Lord. I was afraid of the pain more broken dreams could cause. In a way, I had made that an idol in my heart.

Lately, I have been growing vegetables in a little container garden on my back porch. Brussel sprouts, carrots, cauliflower, onion, and potatoes are all currently gracing my patio. Just as they started producing vegetables and I could see baby Brussel sprouts growing, something changed. The leaves on the bottom of the plants began to die. I had given them water, proper sunlight, and good soil. But as I sat there looking at my decaying plants, the Lord reminded me that death and life coexist. There is not one without the other on this side of heaven.

As we seek Jesus and grow, as He changes our hearts to make us more like Him, some dreams are meant to die in order to give life to new dreams.

It’s important to remember that I am not talking about a prosperity Gospel here. Pursuing Jesus comes before pursuing any dream. Our dreams should never be idols. They should be shaped by Jesus and always align with Scripture. We should be surrendered to God, pursuing Him, and letting Him shape our wants and desires. Then we need to trust Him to do what His word says He can do. Sometimes, it doesn’t look like what we imagined. But we can trust that He holds our heart is is always working on our behalf.

What about you?

Maybe you are where I was? Maybe you are hesitant to dream or surrender your brokenness? I want to encourage you to take it all to Jesus. Your old dreams, any brokenness, and your heart. Let Him speak healing over you and give you new dreams; renewed trust and vision.