Let’s face it, God’s dreams are too big for us to understand much less bring into existence by ourselves. Yes for us it is impossible, but for God—nothing is impossible. For those dreams to become a reality in our lives, we must partner with God. If we have faith enough to conceive it, God can birth it into existence.
Abram obeyed God and went to Canaan. Yet, he could not comprehend the sheer size of what God wanted to do in, with, and through him. There were obstacles all along the way but he made the journey one step at a time—day-by-day. Once in Canaan, a famine drove his family into Egypt in search of food. There Abram allowed the Pharaoh to take Sarah into his harem, intending to make her his wife. He did so because Abram said she was his sister. Self-preservation rather than faith drove Abram to do this. God intervened.
Once back in Canaan, Abram and Lot’s flocks multiplied to the point that the land could not sustain both of them, so they were forced to separate. Lot went to lush plain where the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were located. Things looked greener to Lot in that direction, but the grass is always greener over the septic tank. Not long after arriving, Lot was taken captive by invading armies and Abram was forced to track them down and rescue his nephew. God intervened.
Abram, like each of us, was learning to trust God moment-by-moment through the unknown, the unforeseen, and the ordinary. Circumstances and situations come and go to teach us to walk in faith. They are designed to teach us to trust God and the lessons did not go unheeded by Abram. The dream was far bigger than Abram could comprehend in his mind. He did all kinds of things—both good and bad trying to apprehend it. Yet the key was learning to trust God. Faith is the essential element for seeing God-sized dreams come true. Remember, without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).
Here’s the second principle we must all learn in this process: God-sized dreams are far bigger than our finite minds can comprehend so they must be apprehended by faith alone. Our responsibility is to trust—to believe—to act in faith and leave the impossibilities of the God-sized dream to God. The fulfillment of the dream was God’s responsibility—for nothing will be impossible with God (Luke 1:37).
Over and over, God assured Abram he would fulfill everything he had promised. On different occasions God would appear to Abram and renew his promise of descendants whose numbers would compare with the sum of the stars in the skies or the sand on the seashore. God’s dream was infinitely larger than Abram finite brain could comprehend. God was not interested in whether or not Abram could get his mind around it. No, God was interested in enlarging the capacity of Abram’s faith—stretching it until it was God-sized. Would he—could he—really believe God could do what he said he would do? Only the test of time spent walking with God would transport Abram to this level of faith.
And that my friend is the exact same lesson God is teaching us as we attempt to step out in faith to apprehend the God-sized dream he has tailored for each of us. Don’t try to get your mind around it, use your faith instead. You mind is not as pliable as your faith. Your faith has an amazing elasticity about it that you won’t believe until you strecth it by exercising it.