Dreams Require Cultivation

When I was five years old my family moved from Missouri to the Rowan family farm in West Virginia. My Granny and Grandpa Rowan built a small home just up the hill from the farmhouse that we would now be living in. Over the many years of living at the "big" house they had cultivated quite the garden on the north side of their home. I remember the rows of vegetables, blackberry vines, rhubarb and strawberry patches. They were fully organic way before it was cool. Fast forward a few years and the garden was now a patch of grass I had to mow. Yay. After moving, my parents had other priorities with work, tending sheep and running a camp. Not being able to spend time tilling the soil, planting the seeds, watering the plants and pulling the weeds led to no fruits and vegetables to harvest. It was not an immediate transition from fruitful garden to an empty lot. It took years until the space was no longer recognizable as a garden plot. Your dream needs cultivation in order to produce fruit. You may get some edible food if left to the wild, but it will be inconsistent and hardly enough to live off of. Dreams produce life. In order to get the most out of that life, you have to be intentional about tending to your dream garden.

Tilling the Soil

“... Heap it up! Heap it up! prepare the way, take the stumbling block out of the way of My people.” Isaiah 57:14

The potting soil of your dream is your mind. The rocks and roots of old thinking must be removed first before you can expect successful new growth. In order to see the optimal growth the environment must be clear of obstructions. The Bible calls these mental blocks strongholds and they must be torn down.

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. 2 Corinthians 10:4-6

Strongholds are wrong beliefs that actually war against the truth of God. We encounter these inner battles as we embark on taking the steps needed to see our dream activated. How often have you been caught up in an argument with yourself? Stronghold: There's no way this will happen! Holy Spirit: I know I can do this. God is on my side! The second voice is the one you need to listen to. Replace your old, untruthful thoughts with God's thoughts. Meditate on who He is and who He says you are in His word.

Planting the Seeds

It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and put in his garden; and it grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the air nested in its branches. Luke 13:19

Seeds are small. What they produce are not. An entire forest lies within a single seed. What you are planting in your life today will reap a much larger harvest tomorrow. It may seem insignificant at this moment, but it will return with significance. God is rejoicing in your humble beginnings because He is also seeing the other end of your labor (Zechariah 4:10). He knows what invaluable lessons you will learn on the way and how that will shape who you are. Seeds must be broken before growth begins. Do not mistake the growing pains you are experiencing as God's disapproval. What was once a protective barrier for you is being stripped away so that more fruit can manifest in your life. Like the mustard tree becoming a safe haven for the birds, when your dream will provide for the needs of others.

Watering the Plants

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. Psalm 1:3

Plants without water lead to death. A source of water is necessary for every garden as it provides refreshing life. You need refreshment first from the Holy Spirit and secondly from those with the Holy Spirit. You cannot go at this alone. You have a unique dream but you are not meant to carry the load alone. Going the route of the Lone Ranger will end in serious danger. (Rhyming!!!) You will wear down and give up outside of the encouragement and support of Godly people who are for you.

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. Revelation 22:1-2

The Spirit of God working in you and through your dream will cut down the harvest time. In heaven the River of Life causes trees to produce every month. The natural process of seed time and harvest usually takes quite a bit of time, but when you are flowing in the River of God, supernatural harvest takes place.

Pulling the Weeds

He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Matthew 13:37-38

Weeds are bad news. They can choke out the good plants so that they do not receive the light and water needed to thrive. Jesus didn't mince words in His seed sowing parable. Weeds are people who align themselves with the devil. Not good. Jesus also clearly said that these people will not be removed from the world until the end of the age. They may be in the world, but they do not need to be in your life. Who is speaking into your dream? Are you letting the world dictate how you pursue your purpose? As we let these weeds encroach on us, it makes it more difficult for the light to illuminate us. Pulling the weeds is about getting rid of the darkness. Do not listen to the lies of enemy. Darkness makes it hard to see. What we want to see is the perspective of heaven for our lives. Letting the light in immediately dispels the darkness.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5

Cultivation is not a one-time exercise. Every season brings about new soil to till and new seeds to plant. Watering and weed-pulling is a regular occurrence. There is a great harvest waiting for you and you have a part to play in seeing it go from seeds to bountiful garden.