If I asked you if you trusted God with your dreams, I am sure you would say, “YES!” I would, too! But our actions often give away the truth: we don’t really trust God to give us the desires of our hearts. We don’t really believe Him when He says that He has a good plan, a hope, and a future for us.
[5] Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; [6] in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6
Imagine how God feels when we say, “I trust you with my dreams. Take them and do whatever 
you need to do!” But, with our very next breath and action we are trying to ‘help’ God develop the dream, and questioning every route, turn and stop along the way. If not careful we can ‘take matters into our own hands’ and force things to happen that are not God’s best for us.
Our job is to believe, keep the dream before us, be expectant of what God has for us and what he wants to do, but don’t miss what’s happening in the meantime! What IS happening in the meantime? Character development.
God is making you into the person that you need to be to carry that dream. You are probably gifted out the whazoo (a super-spiritual-technical-term). But without the refining of your character (who you really are, and what you do when no one is looking) and ambitions (why you do what you do), the dream you have will destroy you, and probably hurt others.
Character is who you really are, and is often best revealed when we don’t get what we want, when we want, and the way we want. Do you find yourself jealous at the success or opportunities that someone else received? Are you frustrated when others seem to be reaching their dreams at an easy pace? Let God bring purity and clarity and shape your character to remove these impurities.
Ambitions are the why behind the desire to have ‘it’ in the first place. Do you really want to bring God glory? Ask God to reveal your true motives and ambitions, refining the areas that have something to prove to people, into beautiful ambitions to please and bring glory to God alone.
Many Christians think that becoming mature, or developing character is something they must do on their own. Get the commandment checklist, try to be really, really, really good. Do the ‘do’s’. Don’t do the ‘don’ts’. And God will approve. The truth is that as we spend time with God, we become transformed so that we look like, respond, desire, and act like Him. Let’s look at this verse one more time from the Amplified Version:
[5] Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. [6] In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 AMP
The word translated know or acknowledge in this verse is the same word used in Genesis 4:1:
And Adam knew Eve as his wife, and she became pregnant and bore Cain…
In everything we do, every decision we make, everything concerning your life – know God in the intimate way that a husband and wife know each other. We cannot have seeds of heaven planted in us or birthed through us without intimacy with God. This is how our dreams come to pass. Know God. Go before Him trusting that He is good and gives good gifts to His children. Let Him plant the seeds of dreams and desires in you. Work hand in hand with Him as that seed grows and matures. This is the work we do to ‘help’ God – we spend time with Him, allow His Word to shape us, and our character to become like His. He will carve out the path to the dream that He created you for!
