Daydreaming sounds like a pretty innocent pastime, doesn’t it? Isn’t it rather fun to wile away a few minutes or hours daydreaming about some pleasant “what ifs” for our life? We can guide events with our imagination; what’s wrong with that?

I have learned the hard way in my own life, though, that daydreaming can be dangerous and wasteful. Perhaps you have already learned that too. There is a difference between “faith” thinking and “daydreaming” – maybe better called “flesh thinking.” Daydreaming is fed by speculation and it tends to grow more grandiose the more it is indulged. Eventually it sprouts seeds of disappointment which erodes real faith.

The Bible says that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”(Hebrews 11:1) We might have the impression that daydreaming is a first cousin of faith and be misled into allowing daydreaming to consume our time. But if we create a picture for our life that didn’t come from God’s heart it won’t come to pass and we will crash. Then we have to recover the ground that was lost and start back on our faith trail.

Faith thinking is different. The dream is birthed in God’s heart and implanted in ours by him. “Hope” is the gas it runs on. There is grace for patience as we wait to see the dream materialize. Fulfillment is sweet when it comes.

Without faith the Bible says it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6) On the other hand, should we oblige daydreaming when it comes knocking? Not even a smidge!