DARE TO SOAR

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint (Isaiah 40:28-31).

This Isaiah passage is a favorite of many faithful men and women today. It's a Scripture that speaks of God's eternal presence and His unwavering power, and it carries a grace-filled promise for us. These are inspirational words about dreaming in Him. They also call us to go to God, to lean on Him, and to allow Him to change us into people who impact the world. In pursuing God we have hope, and, specifically, hope to dream. In fact, because of Christ, we should be less afraid to dream. We should expect Him to use us and we should desire for Him to do things with our lives that only He can do.

In the introduction, we briefly discussed the transition in Peter's life. Now consider the change in his dreams and goals. Early in his life, before what we read about him in God's Word, what would have been the focal point of Peter's dreams? Did he have hopes for his life? If he did, they most likely changed to a much higher calling anchored in God's grace and for God's purposes. Among many others, we find Jesus calling Peter and the other disciples to go to "all nations" (Matthew 28:18-20), substantially farther than they ever thought to travel before. And just as when Jesus first called him, we see again in John 21:15-23 that his Lord looked Peter in the eyes and personally called him to "follow me!" Both moments came near the end of Jesus' time here on earth, and both were a call to dream, be faithful, and have a life of impact for God's glory.

We'll come back to Isaiah's amazing text further, as well as provide other inspiration in God's Word. But there are contemporary stories of significant accomplishments to consider as well. Let's pause for a moment and look at what it takes for dreams to come true. Let's explore a story of two dreamers from recent history — their efforts and their achievements.

It is a story of two brothers, both early in their careers, who stood on the eastern shore of the United States in the early years of the twentieth century. They had been working on their dream for a few years. For starters, they were consumed with an exhaustive study of birds. Libraries and other resources had been a help to them, but on this day, they watched several species of birds flying around the ocean's edge. A flicker. A pelican. But mostly gulls glided in the stiff ocean breeze or walked on the sandy shore in front of these brothers. They were watching these birds closely, but they were also illustrating them and their corresponding movements.

Because they spent significant time at the ocean's edge over a few years, the brothers built a small shop along the shoreline, a safe distance from the water's edge, but in the middle of their "dream space," which was among the birds. At the shoreline they lived, slept, and worked their dream. With their location on the beach, sand found its way into their workshop and rain leaked through the roof during coastal storms — but still, this space was enough for them. Sometimes one brother would be in the shop, the other outside, or many times they were working together either watching the birds in the sun or inside the shop doing their work. To the casual observer, they always seemed to be busy doing ... something.

Periodically, the locals would stroll by and hear or see them at work. Mostly, they observed the men talking, sketching, or engaged in woodworking, all in service of some sort of project happening inside the shop. Their intention was not to be secretive about their work and dreams, but most locals had no idea what they were doing. They just found the men curious; at times, just plain entertaining.

One day, the stiff breeze gusted inland while the clouds floated overhead against the blue skies. A few coastal residents happened upon the two men. Once again, the two men were observing the birds intently. Although the men were a reasonable distance away, their strange movements caught the residents' attention in a different way.

The taller one had a notebook out and was sketching and writing as he pleased. The other man was seen humorously flapping his arms and hands as if he were a bird! Some thought he was foolishly playing; others felt the pair were just odd. A few snickered. Suddenly, the taller one set his notebook aside and, together, both men engaged in the arm-flapping, hand-waving game, causing more chuckling and even starting rumors. After watching for a few minutes, the locals just shook their heads and went on their way.

The townspeople didn't know or understand the details or purpose of what the two men were doing, and, for the most part, they didn't care. They were blind toward their work and critical of them. In time, though, they continued to observe the men and their persistence, their trial and error, and the determination regarding their work. As still more time passed, it became clear they weren't acting like birds on the beach for mere entertainment; these men were trying to emulate the birds' movement. They were sketching details and illustrations of the birds and their wings and applying what they learned on their project inside the building.

The men were not playing after all. They were dreaming about doing something never done before, about going places never previously explored. They were dreaming of flying. They were brothers from Ohio, Orville and Wilbur Wright. After a few years of research on the Kitty Hawk, North Carolina shore, including many failures as they trekked their path toward success, the brothers would create the first controlled flight of a machine. Air travel was born.

The amount of effort and clear, focused dreaming can't be overstated. The success of their dream took consuming work over many years. They needed support and help from a few others, including their sister Katherine, who stayed home in Dayton to manage the Wright family affairs. She was a stronghold for the brothers for many years. And while the Wright brothers are better known, Katherine was invaluable to the team for years. Her contributions to their efforts were no less important than Orville's or Wilbur's. In a unique role while the brothers labored in Kitty Hawk, Katherine nearly single-handedly ran the family bicycle shop back in Ohio while...