He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber.
Psalm 121:3
Any dancer, whether she is a professional ballerina or a novice learning the two-step, first has to learn the steps before she soaks in the entire dance. Then the dance becomes ingrained into her mind and muscles so deeply that she arrives at a place where she can dance freely, not thinking so much about the steps. The dancer in me wants each of us to close this book knowing the steps, counts, and exact positions of our own dreaming dances with God so we can dance and live freely, not having to think so much about the steps. But there’s no perfect formula of steps in our dreaming with God. We have journeyed together to discover that the whole point of dreaming with God is to know Him and to help others know Him. In this final chapter, I want to encourage you to step into and stand strong in God’s sweetest dance for you.
How a ballet dancer stands is everything when it comes to dancing. A dancer spends years perfecting how she stands because it affects her technique. A dancer is trained to stand tall, abdominals engaged, shoulders down, neck long, and body strong. I used to always tell my ballet students that the strength of their posture, how they stand, takes them immediately from looking like a student to looking like a professional. Standing tall and strong is powerful. And when we dream with God, we have to stand strong with Him against the ways of our culture. Culture will try to convince us to take our dreams and matters into our own hands. Dreaming with God means standing tall and staying solid in His ways.
This dreaming thing is tricky because faith doesn’t say to sit on our couches and do nothing, nor does it say go make our dreams come true all on our own. But as we’ve talked about in the pages of this book, the secret lies in seeking Christ. He will walk us through step by step, by step, by step, and in the stepping we slowly become the women God dreamt up.
When we leave God out of our dreaming, we are truly missing out on the adventure He has planned for us—the one that fits us like Cinderella’s slipper, the one we are made for, the one our gifts and skills are tailored to, the one that truly delights us. He has more joy, more peace, more excitement, more life for us if we will invite Him to come along on the adventure. And don’t just invite Him—let Him lead.
We have a real enemy who does not want us to dream with God. In fact, he tries to make us fall. He’ll do everything he can to get us to a place where we give up on God and start following our own path and our own ways:
There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way to death. (Prov. 14:12 ESV)
That verse is what Satan wants to get us to stand on, the way that seems right to us. Our plans, our dreams, our ways of following our dreams. So Satan, our very real and powerful enemy, will keep up with his subtle schemes to convince us that following after our dreams in our own strength is the way to success. He does not want us to lean on God in any way, shape, or form because he knows that when we do, we will blossom into women who impact others for Christ and overflow with abundant life. He knows we will be joyful and happy seeking Christ, and to him that’s dangerous. His subtle schemes keep us from standing on the truth that God’s way is best. He uses comparison, distraction, and busyness to convince us we don’t need God. That’s his way, to sneak in and slowly make us feel troubled, discouraged, and defeated in our dreams.
I easily forget about Satan’s influence. When my children ask about him, I tend to make him out to be an evil bad guy with red horns, something they would see in their superhero books. I don’t want to scare them. It’s a strange, creepy thought that he is out there, manipulating, discouraging, destroying. But then again, I want my kiddos to know he is dangerous. I want Brian and me to be aware of his influence in our lives. I want to remember he’s out there trying to get me off God’s path for me. And I want you to know he’s prowling around.
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (1 Pet. 5:8)
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Eph. 6:12)
Knowing this, being aware of Satan’s subtle schemes, we can be on alert. As much as we would rather not linger on the thought that Satan is at work around us trying to trip us up, it’s good to remember that not-so-fun truth so we lean in to God more than ever. Thankfully, our God and Savior is stronger and more powerful than he is. Between Satan’s influence and culture’s messages, dreaming with God will easily lose its appeal if we aren’t careful. All the things we have talked about throughout these chapters keep us standing strong in our dances with God through life.
The Only True Fulfillment
I know the world advertises big, luxurious dreams and that once you reach your dreams, you’ll finally feel fulfilled. I have felt those messages too. But I want to share one last story that has grabbed my heart.
Recently, Brian and I were flying to California (we love that state!). He was taking me to see American Ballet Theater’s production of The Nutcracker. I was a teeny bit excited! I’m thirty-seven years old but still turn into a ten-year-old when it comes to attending the ballet. We got situated in our seats on the plane and much to my heart’s delight, we saw that each passenger had their own movie screen to watch any movie of their choosing. If this is old news, clearly we don’t fly much. Like we were kiddos again, we each began searching for the perfect movie to watch during the flight. I went straight to the romantic comedies and documentaries. Brian went straight to the science fiction and action movies. Of course, the first documentary I came across was about a ballet dancer. Score!
As we soared through the sky, I took in the story of a ballet dancer’s journey to stardom. He reached the pinnacle of every young aspiring dancer’s dreams and became a principal dancer of one of the greatest ballet companies in the world. But his story was so intriguing and heartbreaking because once he reached his dream, it wasn’t enough. He lit up the stage every evening before thousands and received standing ovations, but at the end of the day, he went home to an empty apartment and an empty heart. Despite everything he had accomplished in his dance career, he still felt unfulfilled. Fame didn’t satisfy. Success didn’t satisfy. Being at the top of his profession didn’t satisfy. As our plane landed in California, it dawned on me how I wanted to land this book.
Don’t believe the world’s lie that once you accomplish your dreams, your heart will forever be fulfilled. Place your need for fulfillment in the only One who can truly fulfill your heart.
When you place your significance, purpose, and identity in Jesus, the dreams you live out become experiences to deepen your intimacy with Him instead of temporary fixes for an empty heart. He wants us to dream with Him, but He longs to be our greatest dream come true. Our dreams will give us sweet satisfaction and a sense of fulfillment when He’s our true source of sustaining fulfillment. Because of Jesus, we get to do a different kind of dreaming dance. Instead of stressing and striving, we are offered the opportunity to pray and lean on Christ and therefore find a deeper satisfaction than the world can offer.
Begin Your Dance
So begin your dance of dreaming with God, but remember to let the journey and your relationship with God be the sweet part. I encourage you to step into God’s sweetest dance for you by surrendering every dream and desire of your heart to the One who knows you best and knows what is best for you. You can tell Him all your crazy ideas and He will gladly direct your steps. Sometimes you will try something and quickly realize it’s not for you. Sometimes you will step into a dream and find out it’s much more difficult than you had imagined, but God will gladly give you the strength you need to keep going. And sometimes you will feel like one of your dreams will never happen or is just plain silly, but God has a beautiful way of surprising us when we surrender completely to Him. Be willing to let God work out the details of your dreams. Be willing to take your hands off the situation and faithfully do the things that are right in front of you. Trust that God is at work behind the scenes for you. Watch what He does. Trust Him to open doors that seem locked shut. Trust Him to close doors that are better off shut. Trust Him with every step of your dreaming journey and remember He is with you in all of it. Keep your eyes on Jesus and dance confidently in the direction of the dreams God gives you.
It has been an honor and a joy to encourage your heart on this journey. I will not leave you here with a charge to “dream big and chase your dreams.” But I do urge you to “dream big . . . with God and let Him lead.” Dream on with God, sweet one. It’s a dance He is calling you to.
As I wrap up this ballet of words, I want you to know that dreaming with God takes practice. Even as I was writing this book, I found myself struggling with some of my own dreaming questions. I think we’ll always have questions. So we just keep taking them to our Anchor. Dreaming with God takes rehearsing His truth over and over in our hearts. Dreaming with God goes against our nature and our culture, so we will stumble and slip sometimes. However, Christ has forever picked us up, and He invites us to not only walk through life but also dance through it—with Him. I still find myself running back to Him with my dreaming questions when I forget what He has taught me. Sometimes I feel like I’ve tripped over my dancing feet and I’m a heaping mess of tulle, mixed up with all the dreaming messages of the world. But He keeps picking me up, and He will keep picking you up too. Be encouraged that you have One who constantly watches over your beautiful journey and guides you through every step.
I hope and pray your dreaming heart dances today as you begin dreaming with God. Dreaming with God is truly the sweetest journey.
Prayer, Scripture, and Reflection
for Your Dreaming Heart
Lord, thank You for Your call on my life to dream with You. Hold me close through this dreaming dance and give me strength to stand strong and tall when it feels like I’m going against the grain of culture. Thank You for inviting me to dream with You. All glory and praise goes to You.
“He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber.” Psalm 121:3
“There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.” Proverbs 14:12
“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:20–21
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12
“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8
1. What are some ways you can stand strong in your dreaming dance with God?
2. When have you placed your need for fulfillment in a dream rather than in God?
3. Take some time, just you and God, to reflect on your own dreaming dance.