You Have a Bucket List. But Do You Have a God Dream?
Somewhere on your phone, in a notes app or the back of your mind, there's a list. Italy. Early retirement. Watching your team win it all live. Maybe paying off the kids' college without breaking a sweat.
Those are good things. Really good things. And there's nothing wrong with wanting them.
But what if there's a whole category of dream you haven't found yet?
That's the question Pastor Dave unpacked at Courageous Church this past Sunday — and it's one worth sitting with, whether you've been following Jesus for decades or you've never set foot in a church in your life.
The Difference Nobody Talks About
There's a gap between a good dream and a God dream, and it's subtle enough that most of us never notice it. Good dreams are largely about us — our comfort, our security, our family, our future. And again, those aren't bad things. But God dreams point outward. They're bigger than what we can pull off on our own. They cost something. And they tend to outlast us.
The ancient story of Nehemiah makes this real. Here was a man living in relative comfort — a trusted advisor in a powerful king's court — who asked a simple question about his hometown and couldn't shake what he heard. Jerusalem, the city his people came from, was in ruins. The walls were gone. The gates had burned down. And something shifted in him.
He wept. He fasted. He prayed. And eventually, he walked into the throne room and asked a foreign king to fund the rebuilding of what was essentially enemy territory.
The king said yes. And they rebuilt the walls in 52 days.
It Starts With the Questions You Ask
Here's the thing about Nehemiah — nobody came to him with this problem. He asked. He was curious. He made space to hear something that would cost him comfort.
Most of us only ask questions that lead to good dreams. Where do I want to travel? How do I get ahead? What does my retirement look like? Those are fine questions. But God dreams live on the other side of different ones. What breaks my heart that I keep looking away from? If failure wasn't possible, what would I give my life to? Am I living intentionally, or just reacting to whatever happens next?
These aren't comfortable questions. But they're the ones that tend to open something up.
A Life That Actually Means Something
The most striking line from Sunday wasn't about Nehemiah. It was this: good dreams are me-focused. God dreams are others-focused.
That's the real bucket list upgrade. Not more experiences for yourself, but a life where your presence actually changes things for the people around you.
You're already positioned somewhere. In a city, a neighborhood, a workplace, a season. The question is whether you're paying attention to why.
That's the invitation. Not religion. Not pressure. Just a bigger question than the ones you've been asking.