Do you consider yourself a dreamer? Do you have dreams and visions that have just been a part of you for as long as you can remember? Maybe you’re working towards them today, or maybe they’re save-it-for-later sorts of things. 

I’m with you. Since I was a little girl, I’ve had more visions and dreams than I knew what to do with. I can see some of them playing out right now, and then there are others that I wonder how they’ll ever practically happen, (but I’m going to leave the details up to God). There’s an ambitious, hungry, mission-minded seed inside me that wants to chase after each dream and vision with all my might. 

But I’ve learned through lots of wrong turns, stumbling, and experience that in 99.9% of scenarios, dreams do not happen overnight. They take time. There are things that need to be prepared, qualities in us that need to be worked out, and circumstances we can’t even see yet that need to fall into place. C’mon, you know what Hannah Montana says in her timeless hit, “One In a Million:” They say that good things take time. 

She couldn’t be more right. And I’ve shifted from an obsession with Hannah Montana to King Solomon from 1 Kings (well, at least for this week). I know, I know—Solomon is ancient, and who even reads 1 Kings, anyways?—but stick with me. There’s a lot of good stuff here. 

In 1 Kings 6, King Solomon sets out to build a temple for God. Which was no small feat. Imagine the fanciest hotel you’ve ever been to, and then imagine getting upgraded ten times to the most master, pent-esque suite available. Then multiply by ten. This place wasn’t just a temple, it was a temple if you know what I mean. Unlike anything that had ever been built for God before. Beautiful. Rich. Lavish. Reverent. Stunning. 

There’s a lot to learn from this chapter and the building process, but I keep coming back to these few things. For any dreams you are holding near and dear to your heart, I know this will encourage you wherever you’re at in the process of making them a reality. 

Visions Involve Waiting

The Israelites waited 480 years waiting for a temple to worship God in. That number is incomprehensible. But what’s a little more relatable—Solomon reigned as king for four years before he even started building the temple. I highly doubt he woke up four years into his kingship and thought, “Hm. I’m going to build a temple today. That sounds nice.” I have a feeling that vision was birthed much, much earlier. Four years doesn’t sound like all that long but think about all that’s happened and changed in your life in the past four years. Heck, even in the past year. That’s a long time to wait for something so good and exciting and pure-hearted. 

If you find yourself waiting and longing and aching for this idea to just! happen! already!, I want you to hear that that is part of the process. You are being prepared and stretched and grown right now. This is normal; this is almost a requirement. It’s like the weed-out classes for every major in college—if you can get through the strenuous, uncertain season of waiting and preparing, then you’re really in this. You’re really going to go med school (or wherever it is that your dream is taking you). Serena Williams didn’t just wake up one day with 23 grand slam titles to her name. And neither do we. 

God Cares About the Details

One thing is very certain about 1 Kings 6—the author included every little detail about the palace construction. To the point many of us wouldn’t describe 1 Kings 6 as our most favorite chapter in scripture. But there’s a purpose for this; there’s a reason the author included descriptions of each window, pillar, frame, and stone when it could’ve been so much easier to skip to the end result. 

God is in the details. He cares about the details. Of your life, of your dreams, of your progress. And lucky for you, He probably cares more about them than you do. Each one of those lavish pillars was built to honor God and take the construction crew one step closer to the finished temple. Would we not think God cares about the details in our lives today, too? Don’t get discouraged with the monotony and the work. It’s all a part of it. It may not seem like you’re making much progress—or any progress at all—but the planning and preparation and decisions matter to God. He is working in those details; they are not wasted. None of your time is being wasted. You are not behind schedule. 

It’s all too easy to think we were just being foolish for dreaming or imagining something fantastic when it’s not happening exactly as we imagined, when we imagined. I’ve learned time and time again that just because God gave me a vision for something doesn’t mean that it has to happen tomorrow. There is a discernment that must go down and a conversation (or two or three or ten) we must have with Him to identify if this is the right season to make it happen—if we are in the right place with the right people around us. If so, it’s time to start planning. If not, great. That can be tucked away in the dream journal. 

Whether it’s building a solid morning routine, regulating a workout schedule, writing a book, starting a business, organizing a conference, becoming a doctor—whatever it is for you—these things take time. Hopefully not 480 years’ worth of time, but some amount of time we can’t be sure of. So all we can do is listen to God, be obedient, and keep putting one foot in front of the other, day by day. The visions and dreams God has for us will be built day by day, detail by detail, just as Solomon’s temple was built brick by brick, slowly but surely, for an ultimate victory.