Simmering Dreams

Since we started eating healthier, I have begun making most all of my own sauces and dressings. I have a really great recipe for barbecue sauce. It’s quite simple to make. I mix all the ingredients together in a sauce pot and bring it to a boil. Then the sauce must simmer for 20 minutes. At the end of the 20 minutes the sauce is ready to use or can be put into containers and stored for future enjoyment. 

While the sauce simmering, it requires some attention but not my total focus. So as I set the sauce to simmer, I started about other tasks. First I cleaned of the utensils and measuring cups I had used in combining the ingredients and wiped down the counter. I stirred the sauce and went to change the laundry from washer to dryer. I stirred the sauce then folded and hung up the clothes that had been in the dryer. I stirred the sauce then selected the clothes I would wear for the day. I did a few other chores and between all of these activities, approximately every three minutes, I took breaks to return to the stove and stir the simmering sauce. When I turned off the burner, I had returned and stirred the sauce a total of seven times. 

As I went about these tasks, I pondered how similar this is to the dreams that God has placed in my heart. These dreams are from God and designed with all the right ingredients. Then it seems the waiting period comes, as the dream simmers in my heart awaiting God’s timing for fulfillment. So what am I to do during this waiting time? I go about my daily life attending to my current responsibilities. Regularly, I need to revisit my dream. During these visits I pray and remind myself of what my future holds. This stirs the dream up within me. I am to continue to live out my life faithfully; watching for what God has for me each day. And just as I went back to my barbecue sauce every few minutes, I must regularly go back to the dreams that are simmering in my heart. 

Both the time a sauce simmers and a dream is delayed are critically important. The time may seem long and even unnecessary. It may be tedious to attend to something that is not yet ready. But without this time of simmering both the sauce and the dream may be ruined. In the barbecue sauce, the seasonings need to be brought out to their full taste. God-given dreams can only be truly appreciated after my character has been enhanced. Like the sauce, bringing a dream about too quickly, will not provide the full blessing the Heavenly Father intends. 

Just as both sauce and dreams must wait for the appointed time, attention must be paid to them during the wait. If I were to bring my sauce to a boil, reduce the heat, put on the cover and walk away for the 20 minutes, I would not be happy with the result. If I had failed to set the flame at the proper intensity, the sauce may have boiled too much or not at all. Either is undesirable. Even if the flame was at the proper level, some of the sauce would have become stuck to the bottom and sides of the pot. This would not only cause the scalded portions to be lost, but a burned taste could actually permeate the entire batch. If we fail to water our dreams, disastrous effects can also occur. Inattention can cause the dream to fade from our hearts. God may also require some fine-tuning of the dream that will be missed if we don’t pay attention during the waiting time. Either of these can ruin the fulfillment of the dream. 

Jesus is our example in all this. “Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2 AMP)  He continually saw the vision of the salvation that He was here on earth to bring. Yet in the daily life of His ministry, “ He went about doing good and, in particular, curing all who were harassed and oppressed by [the power of] the devil, for God was with Him.” (Acts 10:38b AMP) Jesus followed God’s leading every day of His life. This included the smallest detail all the way up to His death and resurrection. 

Is there a dream from God in your heart? Are there things you are waiting to come about? Faithfully, go about your day doing whatever God has for you that day. This includes regular daily activities and being aware of and obedient to the little things that God calls your attention to. Check in regularly with God on your big dreams. Pray the word over them and fine-tune your vision. If it is of God, it’ll come to pass in His time.