There is a tension to divine expectation that we encounter as we realize the Lord is stirring a dream in our hearts. This tension arises because we feel the dream so close now, in the present. It’s as if it were already accomplished, yet as we look at our lives, nothing seems different. The circumstances have not changed, the healing hasn’t yet occurred, the miracle is still in process, yet in your heart, it feels like today could be the day, and if not today, surely tomorrow.
Forced waiting produces a tension between what we know God is doing and what we see being done.
But friend, never forget that the miracle is growing. Dreams from God are like a pregnancy. From the moment you find out a baby is on the way, there is much joy and celebration. Everyone is happy and expectant about the future life that will be birthed—then the waiting begins. Month after month of expectation, often toward the end of the pregnancy, there will be hospital trips because it feels like today is the day—only to be sent back home again.
This is the divine dream of God and the pathway of purpose He so often leads us down: waiting, hoping, expecting, tension.
Friend, be assured the birth of your dream is coming! Just as a baby refuses to stay in the womb, your dream will also refuse to remain there. There comes a time for birthing.
Although a mother may not have given birth yet, there are clear signs that the miracle is on the way. In the same way, the Bible says that God speaks of the future, yet unborn, and calls it into existence.
Romans 4:16-18 TPT—The promise depends on faith so that it can be experienced as a grace-gift, and now it extends to all the descendants of Abraham. This promise is not only meant for those who obey the law, but also to those who enter into the faith of Abraham, the father of us all. [17] That’s what the Scripture means when it says: “I have made you the father of many nations.” He is our example and father, for in God’s presence he believed that God can raise the dead and call into being things that don’t even exist yet. [18] Against all odds, when it looked hopeless, Abraham believed the promise and expected God to fulfill it. He took God at His word, and as a result, he became the father of many nations. God’s declaration over him came to pass: “Your descendants will be so many that they will be impossible to count!”
Tension arises because what God dreams for your life is already released in the heavenly realm, but in our life they are still in the spiritual womb.
In the spirit, the dreams of God are already active. They are moving at full force toward His desire for your life. The divine tension expresses itself in longings for what we do not yet see and an extreme desire for more. His active dream for your life, released from the recesses of His heart, runs up against the seen reality in your life.
If viewed through the lens of emotion, our most valuable God dreams could lead us to discouragement because we do not yet see them becoming reality, but the dreams of God’s heart for you were never designed to be seen through human emotion. Clarity and hope come when we see our lives through the lenses of faith.
Romans 4:19 TPT—In spite of being nearly one hundred years old when the promise of having a son was made, his faith was so strong that it could not be undermined by the fact that he and Sarah were incapable of conceiving a child.
Abraham is the best example. God called him to go out into a place he did not know or recognize. It would be years before any hint of the promise from God began to unfold in his life, yet every step on the journey was one ordained by the Lord Himself. Abraham had an incredible encounter with the living God that left him marked for a lifetime. But what God uses to mark us, seen through the lens of the present, will always lead to an Ishmael instead of an Isaac.
In moments of discouragement, when the promises of God or the prophetic words of God seem so distant from what is happening in your life, you may be tempted to do or say something to produce the promise on your own. Friend, be aware that your attempts will lead to nothing but heartache. Ishmaels are the product of our own effort to accomplish a work that only the Lord can produce.
Isaac is the son of promise. He is the one that comes through the inability of our lives and the weakness of our own circumstances, but born from the strength of God. The promise of Isaac, your purpose and dream from God, often produces laughter as it did in Sarah because the magnitude of His word seems completely unattainable. Still, Abraham is the greatest example because he never stopped believing what God promised, even though it took much longer than he thought it would.
Romans 4:20-21 TPT—He never stopped believing God’s promise, for he was made strong in his faith to father a child. And because he was mighty in faith and convinced that God had all the power needed to fulfill His promises, Abraham glorified God!
We have to be like Abraham. We must believe that God will do what He promised and that the waiting time is producing in us a valuable determination. God’s promise for you is running toward you and growing every minute. It will come to pass.
It’s as if the Lion of Judah Himself is pursuing you with a determination to overtake you—and He will at just the right moment.
I remember as a teenager who had just given his life to Jesus, receiving a word from Scripture that altered everything about my life. The Lord used a passage I had never read before to mark me and begin a process of shaping me.
Habakkuk 2:1-3 TLB—I will climb my watchtower now and wait to see what answer God will give to my complaint. [2] And the Lord said to me, “Write my answer on a billboard, large and clear, so that anyone can read it at a glance and rush to tell the others. [3] But these things I plan won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, do not despair, for these things will surely come to pass. Just be patient! They will not be overdue a single day!
I will never forget the emotion and happiness I felt when the Lord spoke this passage into my heart and ignited a purpose I had never had before. It was like water to my soul and fire in my heart. Like many, I thought surely this would happen very quickly and the plan of God for my life would begin to plainly unfold. Somehow I bypassed what the passage actually said, “slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled.”
Over the years, this passage has molded and shaped my passions and desires. It has walked with me through dark moments and steadied me in storms. Other times, this same passage has brought the pain of unfinished promises that seemed like they would never actually happen. But something about the word of God, released in your heart, exposes a willingness to trust when everything looks bleak and lifeless.
I could never escape the last sentence, “they will not be overdue a single day!” If I have repeated that sentence once, I’ve said it 1,000 times.
Promises are not measured in months. They are measured in years. Sometimes decades.
Many in Scripture faced the promise process: a word given—a promise spoken. Excitement. Waiting—often coupled with difficult situations designed to build a foundation of character that will undergird and support the magnitude of what God is going to bring about through the promise. For Elisha, it meant serving Elijah. For Joseph, it meant being sold into slavery, wrongly accused, and serving time in prison. For Jesus, it would cost His entire life.
Each of these and more went through times of pain, loss, and discouragement on the way to the promise—but the promise did come. Elisha found the God of Elijah. Joseph was promoted to second in command over the same nation that imprisoned him, and Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to the right hand of God.
The birth of your promise will happen. Let the process do its job.
Friend, one thing is for sure: if the Lord spoke it, the promise is running toward you. Right now, it is speeding toward you like a hungry lion, roaring with potential and destiny. Do not lose heart in the tension of the wait.
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