Are You Following a Dream or a Vision?

Many people encourage us to dream big, to follow our dreams. You will see challenges like this on social media, hear them at graduation ceremonies, and even encounter them in sermons.

There is nothing inherently wrong with having a dream. Dreams can inspire us to work harder, attempt difficult things, and imagine possibilities we might otherwise overlook. Many remarkable accomplishments began with somebody saying, “I would love to do that someday.”

But for the person of faith, there is a higher question than What do I dream of doing? It is:

What is God calling me to do?

Those two questions may lead to exactly the same place. But they may not.

And sometimes the most difficult plans to surrender are not selfish ones. They are the good ones—the things we sincerely want to do for God.

When a Good Dream Isn’t God’s Assignment

David discovered this.

By 2 Samuel 7, David had become king, his enemies had been subdued, and he was living in a house of cedar. Then something began bothering him. He said to Nathan the prophet: “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells within tent curtains” (2 Samuel 7:2).

David wanted to build a temple for Yahweh. What could possibly be wrong with that? This wasn’t a plan to enlarge his palace or make himself famous. He wanted to honor God. Even Nathan thought it was a good idea: “Go, do all that is in your mind, for the LORD is with you” (7:3).

Look at everything David had going for him. His desire was noble. It centered on God. He had the resources to pursue it. And a respected spiritual adviser told him to move forward.

Then God said no.

David’s experience tells us something we desperately need to understand about discerning God’s direction:

Sometimes the question isn’t whether our dream is good.
The question is whether it is ours to do.

God had something else in mind. David wanted to build a house for God. Instead, God announced that He would build a “house” for David—a dynasty through which His purposes would extend far beyond anything David could accomplish by constructing a building.

David had correctly perceived that God was doing something significant. What he had misunderstood was his role in it.

Sometimes we really are seeing God at work. The harder question is whether we have correctly understood the part He has assigned to us.

How Do We Know?

That raises an obvious problem. How do we distinguish God’s direction from our own ambition?

A good opportunity isn’t enough. David had one. An open door isn’t enough. David possessed the means to do what he envisioned. Even affirmation from godly people isn’t enough. Nathan initially told David to proceed.

Contrary to what many of us have been taught about discerning God’s will, these circumstances, by themselves, do not carry the authority to tell us what God wants.

For more discussion on this topic, see the article Information Is Not King. Revelation Is King. Several principles from that discussion are essential here.

First, we begin with what God has already revealed. Before asking whether God is calling us to pursue something, we should ask whether Scripture weighs in on it in some way. What biblical priorities govern it? What motives are operating in us? Does the direction reflect God’s character and purposes? What kind of person would pursuing it require us to become?

Second, we submit both the plan and ourselves to God.

We aren’t really seeking God’s direction if the only answer we are willing to receive is yes. We can pray, search Scripture, seek wise counsel, watch circumstances, and pay attention to how God may be working around us. But all of that must occur with open hands.

We are not asking, “God, will You help me accomplish this?”
We are asking, “God, is this what You want me to do?”

Understood within that question is the willing response, “If this is not what You want, I’ll lay it down now.”

We must hold our plans loosely before the God who sees what we cannot.

When God Changes the Form

David’s story becomes even more instructive when we keep reading.

God’s refusal did not mean David’s desire to honor Him was worthless. David simply wasn’t the one who would build the temple. That assignment would eventually belong to Solomon.

Notice David’s selfless response. He didn’t respond by saying, “If I can’t build it, then I want nothing to do with it.” Instead, he became deeply involved in preparing for what somebody else would accomplish. He gathered materials, made preparations, and charged Solomon with completing the work (1 Chronicles 22; 28–29).

David’s dream wasn’t destroyed as much as it was redirected.

That leads us to another important question:

If God says no to the form I envisioned, am I still willing to serve His purpose?

Perhaps I envisioned leading the ministry, but God wants me to strengthen the person who will lead it. Perhaps the purpose really did come from God, but I misunderstood my role, the timing, or the form it would take.

If I lose interest as soon as God changes my part, I may discover that I was more attached to my dream than I was to His purpose.

Our Dreams Often Bear the Marks of Myopia

There is another danger here. We can begin thinking of God’s will primarily in negative terms, as though our dreams are expansive while God spends His time shrinking them. As it turns out, the exact opposite may be the truth.

Just before Jesus ascended, the disciples asked Him, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). Their expectation wasn’t entirely wrong, but their conception of what God was about to do was far too small. Jesus answered:

“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (1:8).

They were thinking about Israel. Jesus was thinking about the nations. God’s refusal to conform to our plans does not mean we serve a divine killjoy. His vision simply transcends ours.

Sometimes His “no” protects us from something foolish or corrects an ambition that was never His. But sometimes we are simply looking at one small piece while God sees the whole.

Discerning the Direction

A dream begins with what we want to accomplish. A vision begins by asking what God is doing and where we fit within His purposes.

Henry Blackaby famously encouraged believers to find where God is working and join Him. There is wisdom in that, provided we remember what David teaches us: seeing God at work does not automatically tell us what our role should be.

So we watch. We listen. We search Scripture. We seek counsel from trusted friends who may detect blind spots.

One caution here is especially important: We watch circumstances without treating every open door as God’s endorsement or every closed door as His prohibition. And throughout the process, we remain willing to be redirected.

The objective is not to assemble enough evidence to persuade ourselves that God agrees with us. The objective is to become so completely surrendered that He can change our direction at any time, at any point in the process.

Paul was already carrying out God’s mission when God repeatedly redirected where he would go next (Acts 16:6–10). Philip was in the middle of a remarkably successful ministry when God sent him away from the crowds to a desert road (Acts 8:26–27). Neither man treated yesterday’s direction—or even today’s success—as a guarantee of tomorrow’s assignment. They remained redirectable.

Trusting Him With the Path

Perhaps the best Scripture to carry with us when considering a major plan is Proverbs 3:5–6. I’ll present it literally from the Hebrew, with emphasis included:

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He Himself will make your paths straight.”

Read the passage carefully and an important contrast emerges. We are told not to lean on our own understanding, but that does not mean we stop thinking or planning. It means that our understanding does not have the final word.

Instead, “in all your ways acknowledge Him.” The Hebrew word translated “acknowledge” is yadaʿ, literally “know,” but the word carries an important nuance here. In the language of ancient treaties, conquered peoples were expected to “know” their new overlord—to recognize his sovereignty and acknowledge his prerogative to rule. We see something similar when Yahweh repeatedly declares in Ezekiel, “You shall know that I am Yahweh.” This is far more than intellectual recognition. It is the acknowledgment of lordship.

Read that sense back into Proverbs 3 and the familiar passage becomes considerably more demanding: In every path you contemplate, recognize God’s right to determine where that path goes. We relinquish our own understanding as sovereign and acknowledge His sovereignty instead. And then comes the remarkable promise: He Himself will make our paths straight.

Our responsibility is not to determine the path and ask God to bless it. Our responsibility is to yield the path to Him. His prerogative is to direct it.

Before You Call It a Vision

So the next time someone encourages you to “follow your dream,” go one step farther. Ask yourself:

1. Is this plan emerging primarily from what I want, or from what I understand God to be doing and saying?

2. Does Scripture support its direction—and the kind of person pursuing it would require me to become?

3. Have I listened to wise believers without treating their approval as God’s final word?

4. Am I willing to let God change the timing, my role, or the form of what I envision?

5. If God says no to the form I envisioned, am I still willing to serve His purpose?

That last question may be the most revealing one.

Ultimately, the difference between a dream and a vision isn’t merely how large the idea is, how noble it sounds, or even how much good it might accomplish.

It is a question of whose plan we have decided to follow.

Seek God.
Listen carefully.
Hold the plan with open hands.
Then move forward as He makes the path clear.

And if He changes the path, don’t automatically assume that you’ve lost the vision.

You may finally be finding it.

It Doesn’t Stop Here . . .
Sometimes an article like this will jar our thought processes, bringing thoughts onto our front screen that we would not have otherwise considered. Tell us about the thoughts that are circulating in your head right now . . . .