Eleanor Roosevelt said, “the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” She said these words when she was the wife and first lady of President Franklin D Roosevelt. It was during the Second World War, when people were struggling with fear, lack, hopelessness and the effects of an economic depression.
The full quote is as follows: “Believe in yourself. You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you stop to look fear in the face..You must do that which you think you cannot do…The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” (Eleanor Roosevelt)
Some say that it is easy to dream when everything is going well, but it’s often when we are faced with hardship, failure, defeat and when hopelessness threatens to overwhelm us that the real power of our dreams is released and able to bring the biggest change. It’s in these hard seasons that we make the choice to either live in defeat and under our circumstances, or to look to God and discover the dream that He has deposited within each one of us. It’s often in the place of desperation we discover what we are made for, and are lifted above our past and circumstances to begin to dream for something that will give us a goal, a future, and a reason to get up in the morning.
I believe God loves it when we dream like that. For He is the one who often gives us the dreams and visions we have in the first place. He then wants us to connect to Him and His power that works within us, so that He can lead and guide us to make these dreams a reality.
The bible says, “Now to Him who is able to (carry out His purpose and) do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think (infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes or dreams), according to His power that is at work within us.” (Ephesians 3:20 AMP)
The world would like us to think that God wants to squash our dreams and that He is out to spoil our fun, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I’ve discovered that God is already ahead of us when it comes to the dream department, and when one dream has been fulfilled He’s releasing and encouraging us to focus on a new one.
Two years ago I was on a flight home from Rome after an amazing month’s holiday with my family. We’d enjoyed a wonderful time seeing and experiencing things I had previously only dreamed about. I was busy thanking God for making my dream of a European holiday with the family a reality when I heard God say, “where do you want to go next?” I was a little surprised and replied, “but God I’m not even home from this trip yet”. But that didn’t’ seem to matter to God. He wanted to know where I was dreaming and imagining to go next.
So I started to dream again, and as a result in just over a month’s time we are all off on our USA/Canadian adventure. Why? Because God wants us to dream, believe and look forward to the future. When we do our lives are bigger, brighter and become a resounding testimony of God’s love and goodness.
Today what are you dreaming about? What are you believing your future to look like? Because God is looking to fulfil that for which He’s hidden in your heart.
A point to remember when dreaming is that God never gives us a dream that matches our budget. He’s not checking our bank account; he’s checking our faith. Any dream orchestrated and planted in our hearts by God will always take a measure of faith for it to come to pass. That’s what makes our dreams a place where we grow from faith to faith, and why the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
“You are never too old to set another goal, or to dream a new dream.” (C.S. Lewis)
Prayer: Lord please stir up the dreams within my heart, and give me a fresh vision for the future. I want to begin today to be a person who believes in the future and the beauty of my dreams. In Jesus name Amen.