Put God In The Mix

March 26, 2025

Abraham was a dreamer, maybe one of the greatest ever. God liked that about him – at that time in history, He desperately needed a dreaming friend. The Lord had been waiting for him to come along, a man He could partner with to recapture His dream of family. The Redeemer would be born through this man’s family. Their story begins in Genesis 12, where God initiates His plan by instilling a dream in Abraham.

“Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you; and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you…’”

Notice that God began His journey with Abraham by speaking to his dreaming nature. How fascinating is that! “I’m going to make you My partner in rescuing My dream, Abraham. And I’m going to begin by giving YOU a dream.” Why, when looking for someone to help Him recapture His dream, would God approach it this way? He could have just demanded that Abraham do what He wanted. But the Lord is well aware of the strength of our dreaming nature. He placed it there, after all.

With this in mind, God knew that for the partnership to endure for a lifetime, Abraham would need freedom to release this God-given nature. It couldn’t be a one-sided dream. Therefore, God began by placing a dream in Abraham’s heart regarding the birthing of a great nation and announced the partnership, “I will make from you a great nation” – Abraham's dream. “And in you, all the families of the earth will be blessed” – God’s dream (Genesis 12).

Since God gave us our dreaming nature and has a purpose and destiny for each of us, it seems obvious He would want a voice in our choice of dreams. There is a verse of Scripture that addresses this and has meant a great deal to Ceci and me over the years: “Roll your works on the Lord. Commit and trust them wholly to Him. He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and so shall your plans be established and succeed” (Proverbs 16:3 AMP – classic edition).

This wonderful verse seems almost too good to be true. God declares that He will supernaturally shape our thinking and plans, aligning them with His, which will then ensure success. The word plans in this verse comes from a word meaning “to weave, plait, or mix.” It can even refer to craftsmen inventing musical instruments, artistic objects, weapons, and other objects. The concept is simple: combining two or more substances to create something new. When used in reference to the mind, it refers to thoughts mixing together to form plans. This obviously would include dreams.

Placing this definition back into the verse, God is saying to us: When you dream, I want to be in the mix. If you will allow Me, I will infuse my thoughts into the process and shape your plans according to the purpose and destiny I have created for you. This will guarantee success. Just as He did with Abraham.

What a great promise!

I recall a time when Ceci and I were searching for the next phase of God’s calling in our lives. We had recently married, and I was about to graduate from Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas. We had four opportunities we were considering. The leading possibilities in our minds were overseas. We were standing on this verse, Proverbs 16:3, from the Amplified Bible.

We quoted the verse daily, usually picturing ourselves somewhere in Guatemala or Zimbabwe. Our bags were practically packed. Then, something strange occurred. While praying one day, I had the thought, CFNI is going to offer you a position, and you’re to accept it. “Where did that come from?” I thought. This was nowhere on our radar!

Sure enough, within days, the offer came, and we said yes. It probably wouldn’t surprise you to know that those next two years working at CFNI became invaluable preparation for what God has done through us for the last forty-plus years. Proverbs 16:3 had happened. God infused His thoughts into ours, and we listened, allowing Him “into the mix.” Dreaming works out much better when we bring the Author of dreams into the plans!

Proverbs 19:21 uses this same word: “Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the counsel of the Lord will stand.” Most of the time, we humans make our plans and formulate our dreams without bringing God into the process. This began with Adam and Eve’s original sin in Eden. Satan, the tempter, knew he could throw a wrench into God’s dream if he could cause humans to dream without divine influence.

God’s plan wasn’t to have a family of independent dreamers; He desired co-dreamers. It was never His plan that we dream apart from Him and His influence – not because He’s a control freak, but because He wanted partners and associates. God wanted someone to dream with and someone to dream through. He needed outlets for His dreams.

During the late 1700s, the Lord chose a remarkable destiny for a young man in England, one that would help shape the history of a nation. The movie Amazing Grace tells the true story of William Wilberforce, who led the efforts to eradicate slavery from Great Britain. When asked by his butler after his conversion if he had found God, Wilberforce’s reply was, “I think He found me.”

Indeed, God found Wilberforce, who became so joined to His heart and desires that ultimately, no price was too great for the dream. His passion to see slavery end was so overwhelming that it resulted in stomach ailments, nightmares, ridicule, and four decades of tireless work. But days before his death, the decisive vote came to eliminate slavery from England. When the law became formal three days after the vote, Wilberforce’s spirit left this world. Thomas Buxton, a member of the House of Commons at the time, said of Wilberforce, “The day which was the termination of his labors was the termination of his life.”(1)

God has need of you, just as He did Wilberforce. Since He never acts without purpose, the fact that you’re alive is proof that you have something this generation needs.

Most people, however, go through life pursuing personal careers and goals without ever considering that God wants to dream through their thoughts/plans. Too often, He’s a lonely dreamer. There must be millions of written but unfulfilled destinies in God’s dream book in heaven. The plans, accomplishments, and dreams He wrote about for so many are tragically undiscovered and unrealized. He and His plans never make it into their dream mix. 

Pray with me:

Father, as we are challenged to dream, we look now at the importance of keeping You in the mix. Teach us how to allow Your thoughts, Your ways, and Your heart to leaven the process. You have promised that if we do this, our plans will be established and succeed. You tell us in Your Word that many plans are in a person’s heart, but the counsel of the Lord – Your counsel – will stand.

Forgive us for taking You out of the mix in our personal lives, and also for doing so as a nation. We repent on behalf of our nation and ask for the blood of Jesus to cleanse us from our rebellion and rejection of You. You have determined that we would be outlets for Your dreams, as would our nation. We choose this day to walk in the fullness of that revelation.

Psalm 2 makes clear Your dream of a great harvest in all the nations. You told Jesus to ask You for this, and You would do it. He has asked, and now You will accomplish it. As part of Your dreaming family, we partner with You to see this accomplished. And we do it in the unfailing name of Jesus. Amen.

Our decree:

We declare that God is in our thinking, leading us down His paths. Therefore our plans will succeed.

Today’s post was taken from my book Dream, published by Baker Books.

Click on the link below to watch the full video.

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1. Steven G. Dyer, Transforming a Nation (Grove, OK: Steven G. Dyer, 2010), p. 54.