The greatest aspect missing from my childhood was not receiving any affirmation. But I later realized that what motivates me to pursue the dreams of God is His divine affirmation. When I see a God-inspired dream come to pass, I’m flooded with a sense of awe and gratitude. It’s like a slap on the shoulder from Jehovah God saying, “I’m proud of you! Great job.” It’s the greatest high, and it all comes because of a dream. And with that affirmation comes favor with others.

My daughter has been with me when I met with the Prime Minister of Israel, and many other leaders from all over the world. Every time she’d come out of these meetings, she’d cry in the car. “Dad, they love you! They respect you. They ask you questions. It’s beyond anything I could have imagined. Divine affirmation.”

I’ve been married 55 years to my best friend. My children consider me a hero and a friend. I’ve never dabbled in drugs or alcohol and yet had one of the most dysfunctional childhoods you could imagine. When you receive divine affirmation, it fills the quest to be loved. Only then can you focus on giving love.

I’ll be honest with you. I would have never chosen me. I was the most broken child you’ve ever imagined, and certainly not one who had any gifts. I didn’t go to high school. I never took a writing course, nor a speaking course. But God is crazy about me, and He’s crazy about you. 

Some people think, I don’t have any dreams… I don’t even have any ideas! Well, I have great news for you. God has plenty. And His dreams impact your destiny and the destiny of this world. You have to know why you were born. And the only one who can tell you the answer is the One who created you. Will you ask the question? Will you expect an answer—in ways that might surprise you? To live a life of dreams, you have to engage with The Dreamer. He has dreams for your life.

The Bible says, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior” (Habakkuk 3:17-18).

Do you want to be a victim or a victor? Do you want to be comfortable or a conqueror? Do you want to see “impossible” dreams come true, to the glory of God? Victors process pain and pleasure differently than other people. The Bible says Jesus “learned obedience by the things which He suffered” (Hebrews 5:8).

The apostle Paul said, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory, beyond all comprehension” (2 Corinthians 4:17). In his cell in chains he said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). He looked at his own death sentence and suffering for Christ and said this.

When you’re lied about and betrayed and you forgive and remain silent rather than attempt to destroy the person who is slandering you, you still love them and suffer for Christ’s sake. The price of admission to change the world is unspeakable evil and betrayal, and when it comes, you cannot play the victim.

Are the things you’re living for worth Christ dying for? Are you willing to live your life in the light of eternity? The apostle Paul said that he wanted to know Christ and the fellowship of His suffering. If you truly want to change the world, then celebrate suffering and sacrifice. Seek the Jesus who shows up in the flames of fire.

It is in the quiet crucible of your personal suffering that your noblest dreams are born. God’s greatest gifts are given in compensation for what you’ve been through. You’re going to be betrayed. You’re going to be rejected by those you’ve loved the most if you choose the narrow path.

Beginning strong is not a sign of a surrendered life. Finishing strong is. When things are going well, we see Christ as a conquering Savior. But when things go badly, do you still see Him that way? To be an overcomer you must have something to overcome. If you don’t have an opponent, you don’t have a victory.

Most who celebrate with you on the mountain will not be with you in the fire. Everyone wants a theology that celebrates those who get fire protection. How about a theology that celebrates those who choose to suffer in the fire and embraces a God who walks through the fire with us? Revelations born from suffering for Christ are the engines of God that fuel His eternal purposes on earth. It will cause you to see what He sees, hear what He hears, and do what He does.

The Christian life is not about winning and being number one. It’s about Jesus being number one. If I have to protect my name at all costs, my reputation at all costs, my career at all costs, my income at all costs, and my influence at all costs, it will lead to a self-inspired narrative (S.I.N.). The Christian life is about surrendering all of our life for His glory and His story. That’s what I have learned about God’s dreams and how they come to pass. Sacrifice and suffering can be fuel for your dreams, if you let them.

What do you do when it seems like your prayers are not being answered, when it feels like God’s on vacation? When you’re doing your very best, but you don’t seem to be getting any breaks? God uses the seasons of silence to prepare us. We’re not being overlooked. When you see a coworker get promoted or a friend getting married, and you’re merely being tolerated and not being celebrated, know this: God uses this season in our life, and wants us to come to realize that the opportunities of a lifetime have to be seized in the lifetime of the opportunity, and preparation has to meet opportunity.

I’m calling you to embrace the quiet, when your dreams are ignored and silence is your only companion. Come to the quiet. Many times, God uses the quiet times to prepare us. Nothing may seem like it’s changing on the outside, but great things are happening on the inside. You’re learning to make God your source and put all your faith in God—not in people. Your character is being developed. In those times of silence and quiet, where you feel rejected, trust Him. You can celebrate in your suffering in silence and count it all joy because the Lord is going to use this for his glory.

Because no one seems to be celebrating you doesn’t mean that God has forgotten you. It’s just the opposite. Nothing can stop God’s purpose in your life. You’ve seen it in the life of Daniel in the Bible. He was led into captivity in Babylon, but it was Daniel who was used mightily to bring deliverance to the house of Israel. In Babylon you saw it in the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They refused to bow or compromise. What you compromise to gain, you always lose. But in the midst of that fiery furnace there was a fourth man who delivered them.

The same can be said in the life of King David. As a boy, David was rejected by his own father. When Samuel came, his father didn’t even bring David up to meet the prophet. When Samuel finally anointed David to be king, he was sent back into the fields to tend the sheep. His brothers were in the military, and they mocked him, but nothing could stop God’s plan for David’s life—not even the quiet he was in.

I know I’ve been there. Joseph was betrayed by his brothers, then was falsely accused and put in prison. But all of that was going to be used to fulfill God’s purpose in Joseph’s life. Elijah was one of the greatest prophets in the Bible. God said to him in 1 Kings 17:3: “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan.” I can imagine him saying to God, “You want me to go hide myself? After all I’ve just done for you?” But for the next three and a half years, he only spoke to a widow and her son. He was faithful when he experienced silence in the wilderness. Then the fire of God fell from heaven and the rain came and the people repented. Embrace the quiet times.

Naaman was a mighty warrior, a commander in the army of the king of Aram (Syria), a country at war with Israel. The Arameans had no knowledge of Jehovah, for they were worshippers of Rimmon (Baal)—a wicked, bloodthirsty god of a depraved and vicious people. They were the terrorists of their day—a nation with no regard for the sanctity of human life. The source of their coveted victory over Israel, or so they erroneously thought, would be their god and their king, Ben-Hadad. Naaman was his closest advisor—a brilliant soldier.

Naaman had a deep, dark secret: he was a leper. Time and again, his condition was pronounced hopeless. No one had a cure for what was then an ultimately fatal disease. The great man would slowly waste away, bit by bit, until his life was gone. But God had planted a witness in Naaman’s household—the little slave girl. We are not told her name or her age, only of her compassionate nature toward her captor.

She boldly declared that the God of Elisha could deliver her master from the awful disease that had enveloped his body, even though he was an enemy to Israel. This young missionary planted a seed that would soon grow to fruition. As Naaman listened to his wife recount the conversation, a spark began to ignite inside him; hope began to arise as he prepared to make a foray into the land of Israel—not to wage war against its people, but to battle his illness.

The proud soldier set off in search of the prophet in Israel. Sitting astride his magnificent mount, the commander waited for the prophet to show his face—probably becoming more and more irritated by the delay. Suddenly a man appeared; not the prophet himself, but his servant with a message: “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.” Naaman was livid! How dare this lowly prophet send a servant to tell him to wash himself in the vile, muddy Jordan River! Why, he could return home and bathe in the pristine waters of one of the rivers of Damascus. He was done with this charlatan!

Little did he realize that healing was in his grasp—but only through the power of Jehovah and only by his obedience to the instructions of the prophet. God had no regard for Naaman’s pride, position, possessions, or propositions. He simply wanted Naaman to abandon himself to the strong arms of a loving God and submit to His directive: Go and wash. The healing properties were not to be found in the waters of the Jordan, but in the obedience of Naaman. As he began to dip in the waters of the Jordan—once, twice, three times, four, five, six, and then seven times—humility and obedience brought favor with God and deliverance from the disease that had attacked his body.

We must look for God at work in ways and places and through people we do not expect. God works wonders today, but often He uses unlikely tools to accomplish His purposes. Don’t miss what He is doing because it is not what you were looking for Him to do.