"The following night the Lord stood by him and said, "Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome." (Acts 23:11)

Much preaching today appeals to your dreams. In these sermons, there are three characters -- a dreamer, haters, and a dream maker.

The dreamers are the people listening to the sermon. The haters get in the way of their dream. But God is the dream-maker. Point of the sermon? Trust him because he'll make your dream come true.

But Paul had a dream: effective gospel preaching in Jerusalem. One day, while in his dream city, he was rescued from a mob. He asked if he could speak to the mob. When he opened his mouth, the masses listened until he told them God sent him to the nations. Then, they revolted. They totally rejected Paul's message.

So his dream was left unfulfilled. I'm sure it was a moment of true despair. One way I know this is because Jesus showed up to speak to him, and in Acts, that only happened at real low moments in Paul's life. The Lord told him to "take courage" because He would send Paul to "testify also in Rome."

You see, Jesus had another dream. He wanted Paul to proclaim the gospel in Rome, the center of the Empire. And Jesus would make His own dream come true. Soon, Paul would realize the wisdom and value of Jesus' dream.

Let's allow the Lord to be the dream-maker, but not until we submit to His dreams. Our dreams might be pure and good, just as Paul's was, and God might even use our desires for His ultimate purposes, just as He did with Paul's.

But many of our dreams are just that -- ours. But our Lord is the all-wise God. He has his plan, and it is far better than ours.