Dreaming By Day

When I spoke at Lino Lakes, one of the things that God impressed on my heart to share with the men was how important it is to dream.

In the poem “Eleonora,” Edgar Allan Poe writes, “Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.”

Here is my translation….. There are many who dream by night, but beware of those who dream by day for they are the dangerous ones who will change the world.

Do not confuse the issue of “daydreaming” with the ability and gift to dream by day. I find it exhilarating to dream by day when I know that the dreams are of God. One of the great things about real dreams is that I cannot do it without God. There are many things in life that we plan which in reality we can do without God--not that I want to do anything without Him. We have to remember that if our plans are totally achievable on our own, we have written God out of the equation. Every man needs to dream and dream of things that cannot be accomplished without God. When we are willing to risk dreaming those types of dreams, we are forced to keep God in everything.

In a devotion entitled, Streams in the Desert, L.B. Coleman told a great story. “The Marquis of Salisbury, an English statesman and diplomat, upon being criticized for his colonial policies, replied, ‘Gentlemen, get larger maps’.”

When we dream by day, it forces us to get bigger maps….. God-sized maps.

Now that is real dreaming! That is when men become truly dangerous--but dangerous in the right way for the right reasons.

Acts 2:17‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says, ‘That I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, And your young men shall see visions, And your old men shall dream dreams; [1]



[1]New American Standard Bible : 1995 update. 1995 (Ac 2:17). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.