God Is Still in the Dream Making Business | Finding God's Vision for Your Life

Jul 12, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Blinded to See: When God Interrupts Our Plans

God often disrupts our self-made paths to redirect us toward His purpose. Like Saul on the Damascus Road, divine interruptions—sudden, disorienting, even painful—are not punishments but invitations to surrender our agendas. These moments strip away our illusions of control, forcing us to listen. Three days of blindness prepared Saul to become Paul, the church’s greatest missionary. What plans are you clutching that God might be interrupting to reveal a deeper calling? [15:23]

Suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” (Acts 9:3-6, NIV)

Reflection: When has God last interrupted your plans? How did you respond—with resistance, confusion, or surrender?

Day 2: Writing the Vision, Making it Plain

Visions fade when left unspoken. Habakkuk teaches us to etch God’s promises into tangible words, creating a record to return to when doubt creeps in. Writing crystallizes fleeting burdens into actionable callings. It’s a act of faith, declaring, “This matters enough to preserve.” Like Camp Rhythm’s birth from a scribbled idea, your written vision could become a ministry that outlives you. What dream have you hesitated to name, fearing it might vanish if made real? [34:27]

Then the Lord replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.” (Habakkuk 2:2-3, NIV)

Reflection: What specific vision has God whispered to you that you need to write down this week? Who will you share it with first?

Day 3: Dreaming in the Waiting: Trusting God’s Timing

Five years passed between the pastor’s calling to plant a church and its fruition. Waiting seasons aren’t wasted—they’re workshops where God prepares our character to carry the vision. Like Paul’s three days of blindness or Joseph’s prison years, delays teach dependence. What if your current frustration is God’s way of saying, “Not yet—but trust Me”? His timing protects both you and the dream. [28:20]

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. (Ecclesiastes 3:11, NIV)

Reflection: What vision has God given you that feels delayed? How might He be preparing you—not punishing you—in this waiting?

Day 4: The Courage to Share an Unseen Burden

Jonathan risked rejection to pitch Camp Rhythm, a dream others couldn’t yet see. Sharing visions requires vulnerability—your heart’s burden laid bare before others’ scrutiny. Yet iron sharpens iron: community tests, refines, and rallies around God-given dreams. What burden have you bottled up, fearing others’ dismissal? Your silence might be robbing the church of a needed ministry. [36:51]

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17, NIV)

Reflection: What God-given burden have you been too afraid to voice? Who in your faith community could help discern its purpose?

Day 5: Birthing the Dream Before Building the Thing

God implants visions like seeds—small, fragile, needing nurture before they break soil. Before One Church existed, it lived as a prayer journal entry. Before Camp Rhythm hosted students, it was a nervous conversation. Every lasting work begins as a holy ache in someone’s spirit. What dream is God growing in you that demands patience before action? [40:12]

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. (Isaiah 43:19, NIV)

Reflection: What “new thing” is God birthing in you? How will you protect and nourish it before it’s ready to be unveiled?

Sermon Summary

Christian leadership begins with surrender, grows through discipleship, and reaches outward through evangelism. Participation in God’s kingdom is not a Sunday experience only. The Christian life is a lived experience, every moment of every day, and the kingdom of God is a team sport where every person who calls Jesus Lord is called to lead.

God’s vision moves the church forward through dreamers. Prophecy is not just strange religious language. Prophecy is a dreamer helping God’s people see what God already wants to build. Every ministry that has ever mattered began as a burden in someone’s heart before it became a reality in the world.

Christian leadership flips the world’s idea of leadership upside down. Corporate leadership drives, innovates, and chases the bottom line, but Christian leadership gets still enough to listen. The world celebrates people who chase their dreams, but Scripture celebrates people who hear God’s dream first. Discernment and discipleship become the mark of a Christian leader.

Paul’s calling shows how God gives vision. Saul was a religious zealot, trying to defend the faith of Israel by hunting followers of Jesus. The Damascus road became a holy interruption, because Jesus stopped Saul with a blinding light and gave him a new direction. Ananias then received the prophetic word that Saul was God’s chosen instrument to proclaim Jesus to the Gentiles, to kings, and to Israel.

Holy interruptions are often how God gets attention. The interruption is not the destination, and God does not break people just to break them. The interruption makes space for listening when personal agendas, lifestyle choices, and even religious certainty have blocked God’s voice.

God often reveals the purpose before the pathway. The calling can come long before the blueprint, and that gap can feel scary, restless, and disorienting. The waiting is not wasted when God uses it for mentors, experience, maturity, and preparation. The calling must not be lost while the plan is still hidden.

God still gives vision for families, workplaces, neighborhoods, ministries, small groups, foster care, adoption, business ideas, and church life. Not every dream is from God, so dreamers need discernment, mentors, pastors, builders, and community. Vision is best discerned together, where ideas can be spoken out loud, sharpened, tested, and prayed over.

The next step is simple but dangerous: write it down. Habakkuk says to write the revelation and make it plain, because a lingering vision still belongs to an appointed time. Before God builds something through a person, he births it within that person.

Key Takeaways

1. God interrupts before He redirects God’s interruptions are not random punishment or divine cruelty. The Damascus road shows that an interruption can become mercy when it stops a person long enough to hear Jesus clearly. The disruption may rattle the soul, but the purpose is attention, not destruction. [21:41]
2. Purpose often precedes the pathway God may give the burden before giving the blueprint. That gap can feel like confusion, but it can also become the very place where faith learns patience, trust, and preparation. The calling should not be thrown away simply because the next ten steps are not visible yet. [22:34]
3. Dreams need discernment in community A dreamer may see needs that others miss, but isolation can turn vision into pressure, pride, or confusion. Community gives the dream room to be tested, sharpened, and submitted to the Spirit’s timing. The church needs every gift because dreamers, builders, and leaders help each other hear God more faithfully. [31:52]
4. Write the revelation plainly A God-given burden can fade when it stays vague and unspoken. Writing it down makes the dream concrete enough to pray over, share, discern, and wait on. Habakkuk’s word gives dignity to the lingering vision, because delay does not mean denial when God has appointed the time. [34:27]
5. God births before He builds God’s work through a person usually begins quietly inside that person first. The burden, ache, or repeated vision may be the first sign that God is preparing something not yet visible. The building should not be forced in human strength, because God’s timing is part of the vision itself. [39:30]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[07:03] - Summer of One Next Steps
[07:35] - Kingdom Life Is a Team Sport
[09:14] - Moving Forward Through God’s Vision
[10:22] - Prophecy and Dreamers in Faith
[13:35] - Paul’s Calling Begins
[17:33] - Ananias Receives Paul’s Assignment
[19:30] - Holy Interruptions Get Attention
[22:04] - Trusting the Next Step
[25:34] - Waiting Becomes Preparation
[29:08] - God Still Gives Vision
[31:11] - Dreamers Need Discernment
[33:45] - Write the Vision Down
[36:29] - Camp Rhythm as a Shared Dream
[40:12] - A Whole Church Listening Together

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Acts 9:1-19 (NIV)
1 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples... 3 As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”... 15 But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.”

Habakkuk 2:2-3 (NIV)
2 Then the Lord replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. 3 For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.”

Observation Questions

What was Saul doing before his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, and how did Jesus interrupt him? (Acts 9:1-5)
What specific instructions did God give Ananias about Saul, and why was Ananias hesitant to obey? (Acts 9:13-15) [17:02]
According to Habakkuk 2:2-3, what does God command people to do with a vision or revelation, and why?

Interpretation Questions

Why might God choose to interrupt someone’s life (like Saul’s) in a dramatic way instead of gradually redirecting them? How does this reflect His mercy? [21:41]
Habakkuk says to “write the revelation plainly” and wait for its appointed time. What risks arise if a vision remains unspoken or unwritten? How does writing it down change its impact?
Saul’s calling was confirmed through Ananias, and Jonathan’s vision for Camp Rhythm was confirmed through church leadership. Why is community essential for testing and refining a God-given vision? [31:52]

Application Questions

What burden, dream, or repeated idea have you felt stirring in your heart but haven’t written down or shared with others? What practical step could you take this week to clarify and test it? [34:27]
When has a “holy interruption” (like a setback, crisis, or unexpected change) forced you to pause and listen to God? How did it redirect your focus or priorities?
Are there areas where you’ve been waiting for God to reveal the entire plan before stepping forward? How can you practice trusting Him with the “next step” instead of demanding the blueprint? [22:34]
Who in your life (mentor, small group, pastor) could help you discern whether a vision aligns with God’s purposes? What hesitations do you need to overcome to share it with them? [31:11]
The sermon emphasized that “God births before He builds.” What current season of preparation (e.g., waiting, learning, maturing) might God be using to equip you for a future vision? [39:30]

Sermon Clips

55s

#AskGodWhatToSee

“``And so this week, I want you to ask God one simple question. One simple question. Lord, what do you want me to see? What do you want me to see? Because God rarely gives us the whole blueprint. He does. That's that's the truth. Even though we want that. Right? Even though we we definitely desire that, God rarely, rarely gives us the whole blueprint up front. What he does is gives us the faithful next step to trust in him, to lean into him, to lean into community. But that's the whole point of the series, guys. It's actually the whole point of this church. How does God move his church forward? God moves his church forward by speaking to ordinary people who are simply willing to listen together. Amen?”

68s

#DiscernmentLeadership

“And that's that's really at the heart of what we've been saying this whole series long about Christian leadership. Because you see corporate leadership by comparison, it's all about driving, it's all about innovating, and it's all about the bottom line. Right? We we know this. If you're in business, you know this for sure. But Christian leadership, it it kind of flips the idea of leadership upside down. It says it's all about being still enough to listen to his voice, still enough to to dream the dream and understand his direction for us even before we start acting on it. Yeah? You see, the world celebrates people who run after, chase after their dreams, their dreams, but scripture celebrates people who first learn to hear God's dream for them. In other words, Christian leadership, it ultimately comes down to discernment and discipleship.”

55s

#BurdenBeforeBlueprint

“Like, somewhere along the way, maybe you assume that if God didn't give you the whole blueprint, the whole plan upfront, then maybe the dream could never have been from him in the first place. Like, if I didn't know the end game, if I didn't know where this was going, it probably wasn't real from the start. But guys, if you read scripture, like from front to back, if you read the whole thing, if you see how God interacts with all of his people throughout all of time, we can see that that's almost never how God works. That's almost never how God works. God rarely gives the blueprint first. He gives us the burden. Right? He starts breaking our hearts, starts stirring that thing up inside of us. He gives us the calling, and then he teaches us to trust him with the next step.”

65s

#HolyInterruption

“Like, Paul was blinded for three whole days. Three whole days. No sight. No vision. He can't see a thing. He can't go anywhere without somebody else's help. But, man, God used that to get his attention. Right? God used that to interrupt what he was doing to get his attention. Like that interruption, guys, that's not the destination. That's not where God is taking us. Right? He doesn't want to break you for the sake of breaking you. That's not the point. That's what so many of us ultimately think sometimes, that God is just out there to hurt us. That's not the destination. The interruption is how God gets our attention so that he can give us his vision. That's the point. Sometimes God has to take drastic measures because we've already taken drastic measures to block him, to to right, to stop him. So God has to take drastic measures to get our attention so that he can give us his vision.”

65s

#DreamTogetherChurch

“Guys, before God builds something through you, first he births it within you. Like, before God does the thing with you, right, before he uses you to build the thing, he first gives you the dream and the vision for it. He births it in you. I want you to imagine for just a moment. Imagine what it would look like if every believer here at one church, whatever that is, whether I don't know if it's two fifty, 300 people, like, everybody that calls one church their home, imagine if every one of us was open to receive God's vision for them. Like, imagine if we all dreamed that dream out loud together. If we all heard from God and wrote it down and shared it with one another, we prayed over it together, we discerned it together, and only when we feel and sense and discern that the spirit of God is moving through it, only then do we actually step into it together. Think about what God could build through us.”

74s

#ParticipateInKingdom

“If we all practice listening and hearing from God, Imagine what God could do, not just because a pastor had a dream, not just because a pastor received a vision, but because an entire church leaned in to see what God sees. Guys, the future of the church has always, always been carried first by people who are willing to listen to the dreams that God gave them. Like, our mission as a church, it has never it has never simply been to attend church, to come on a Sunday, to even come out here online. Our mission is to participate in the kingdom of God. And that participation doesn't happen when just one person receives a dream, has all the ideas. It happens when all of God's people faithfully bring the dreams and gifts that he's entrusted to them. It's not all about me. It can't all be about me. It's about all of us faithfully bringing the dreams that God has entrusted to us and bringing them forward.”

80s

#DreamInCommunity

“And listen, this doesn't mean that every dream that we have comes from God. That's that's crazy talk. Right? I know that I'm full of ideas, full of dreams that that are not from God. But that's why dreamers need discernment. It's why prophets. Right? People who speak for God. Right? That's why we need pastors. That's why builders, people who build the thing, that's why they need dreamers to dream it all up. That's why the church needs every gift. That's why the summer of one series is so important, actually. Right? That's why it's so important to live in community, to experience community with others. That's why discernment and mentorship matter in the church world. Because you and I, we've got to be free to dream out loud with one another, to bounce ideas off of each other. Right? To sharpen one another. Like, as we explore together, if that vision is from God, or did I just have like a really good and creative day? Like, that's why we've got to come together in this. That's why Christianity and the Christian life is not is not a single solitary thing. It is it is a team sport where we're to play together and feed off one another and bounce the ideas off one another. Right?”

56s

#WaitAsPreparation

“I have to believe that was overwhelming for Paul, especially especially because he didn't know the plan yet to get there. He he knew what he was supposed to do, that he was supposed to proclaim the name of Jesus, but he didn't know how to do it just yet. Yeah? But, guys, this is where faith begins for us. God often gives us the calling before he gives us the pathway, but don't lose the calling while you're waiting for the plan. That's what so many of us do. Right? I know I know I've done this before. We don't know what the path forward is, and so we lose the calling in the midst of that. What we have to learn how to do is to use the waiting that's that period of unknown as preparation for what God is preparing us for. Yeah?”

Ask a question about this sermon

One Church NJ This sermon · AI assistant

How does prophecy function as Christian leadership?

Why are interruptions important to receiving God's vision?

How should believers discern and share God given dreams?