Throughout history God has used men and women who know where He is calling them to go and who were willing to follow God’s dream for their lives. Hebrews chapter 11 contains the examples of many who followed God’s dream for their lives. Though these people had different backgrounds and abilities, carried different baggage and burdens, and accomplished different things they also had several common characteristics. They all lived “by faith.”

They had the ability to see God’s vision for their lives. This isn’t a reference to physical sight. God uses people who can see something their eyes can not. In Hebrews 11:7 we reach that Noah was “warned about things not yet seen…” Noah had the ability to see an ark, rain, animals, preservation of food, the flood, and so on although none of these things had yet been seen. God has called each of us to dream His dream – to have the ability to see what He sees and to desire what He wants for you!

They also had the faith to believe. Beginning in verse 8 we read the story of Abraham. If you remember your Bible history you will remember how God promised Abraham that the world would be blessed by his descendents who would be more numerous than the sands of the seashore, even though Abraham had NO descendants at that point. Abraham was able to act in faith to believe that God’s promise would come to be even though he had no evidence at that point to prove it. Sometimes it isn’t easy to see things the way God sees and to believe the promises of God will come true. But that’s what God has called us to do: dream His dream – and to have faith enough to believe that His promise is true even before it is realized.

Third, God’s dreamer has the courage to act. God needs people who will not only see what He wants to happen and with the faith to believe God can bring it about and be courageous enough to do what He wants them to do. Courageous enough not to give up, not to quit, not to abandon the right path. Sometimes this is where we fall down. We say we can see where we need to go. We might even believe that God can make it happen. But then we are unwilling to do what we need to do to make God’s dream come true.

The last characteristic of God’s dreamer is the hope to endure. This may be the most difficult quality because it takes incredible courage too. Starting is not the hard part, finishing is! But finishing is a huge part of pursuing God’s dream. Going back to Hebrews 11, where would the Israelites have been if Moses had quit in the wilderness? Or take the New Testament example of Peter and the rest of the Apostles. What if they had given up after their first imprisonment? And the ultimate example: where would we be if Jesus had stopped short of Calvary?

Hebrews 11:13 says, “All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance…” You see no dream is complete until we finish! We cannot afford to quit – we must persevere at all costs, even if the dream isn’t fulfilled in our lifetimes. For the Lord has given us an eternal hope that the best has not yet happened!