Once Upon a Time: God in the Midst of Shattered Dreams

Once Upon a Time

 We all have daydreamed, planned and prayed for BIG DREAMS for our future.  And we should. It starts as a small child. "When I grow up"...  fill in the blank. We can't wait to experience life and we begin working towards those dreams. We anticipate and long for the day our dreams will come true.  We even write the script for how it will all happen and what it will all look like. The college, the career, the ministry, the spouse, the home, the car, the perfect kids.  Right? So exciting! Ahh: Smile!  We know God has big plans for us and they are GOOD.  He has given us promises and dreams.  As we get older, we become consumed with the "dream".  We want it so bad!  For me it was becoming a teacher, serve in ministry, marry a man who will serve & love God along side me, a man who will love, honor and cherish me, be the perfect wife, be the perfect Christian,  become a mommy(and be the BEST mommy ever!) and live happily ever after in glorious bliss!  I'm pretty confident that I am not alone in this "dream"  process. How about you? What is your Once Upon a Time? 

Hope Love Dreams

Fast forward to the future.  Life does not go as planned or what we "dream".  Yes, some things do go as planned, but not all.  College is not finished, the marriage that was supposed to last a lifetime is destroyed, ministry not going as planned,  not a perfect wife, not a perfect mommy, crisis comes in a death and this whole expectation of everything turning out the way it was "supposed" too, is quickly unraveling.  Nothing I do can stop it. It is devastating. It is heart braking. It is confusing. It is scary. Hope is dashed. Dreams are shattered.  I was standing in the middle of the rubble of my life. How could this be my life? I had a plan. This was NOT how it was to unfold. I did not sign up for this God. The floods of guilt, shame, anger, doubts, fear, pain, turmoil, uncertainty of tomorrow and where is God in all this begin to really settle in. I do not know what your shattered dreams are or what your life was "supposed" to be. I can only imagine that you too have broken pieces in your life. Things did not go as planned for you either. Maybe you have lost a spouse, a child, a parent, you have a life threatening health issue, an epic failure or life has dealt you some serious curve balls.  What do we do when the wind is knocked out of our sails and the rug is pulled out from under us? Can we go on? How do I do this God? I just can't. It is to big. It is to hard. It hurts to deep.  I get it. Been there. Cried so deep till I could not breath. Did not even want to live at times. But I did not stay there.

"The Lord hears His people when they call to Him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; He rescues those whose spirits are crushed." Psalm 34:17-18 NLT

BUT GOD! Hope Restored

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." Romans 15:13 ESV

"To all who mourn in Zion, He will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks for the Lord has planted for His own Glory." Isaiah 61:3 NLT

And so the real journey begins.  Where hurt collides with HOPE, fear exchanges for FAITH, BELIEVING silences unbelief and turmoil is destroyed by TRUST.  Where the rubber meets the road.  The place where we begin to experience God like never before. When His Words become our daily source of life. His presence is known in our darkest moments. It is when we are reduced to nothing and He becomes everything. This is the very place where our identity is tested but discovered. We discover who He is and who we are in HIM.  We learn that He can be trusted. He is faithful even when I am not.  His Holy Spirit is so sweet.  His love is what sustains and gives strength to take one more step. His promises are true. We find rest in His arms when we are ready to collapse.  When all of our resources are gone, He shows up as our Jehovah Jireh, the Lord will provide.  Our healer of our wounded soul and  body.  His joy that becomes our strength. This is the time that we cannot deny His FAITHFULNESS.  And oh how precious is His comfort. It is like no other. Grace and power to trust Him to guide us every step of the way to VICTORY.  This is the very place where growth happens. The place where God does what only He can do. He begins to rebuild the ruins and breaths new life into our dead dreams! I can hear some of you say "Yeah right! How? Impossible! I believe it for others, but not for me." I have said those very same things. Here is the key: SUBMIT, SURRENDER and EMBRACE the process. Stop listening to the lies of the enemy and start rehearsing God's TRUTH in your mind, heart and mouth! Begin to dream again!

" For God has said, "I will never fail you, I will never abandon you," So we can say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear, what can mere people do to me?" Hebrews 13:5-6 NLT

My friend, I don't know the details of your shattered dreams or where you are  in your journey, but I want to be the voice of truth today. Your reality is undeniable BUT today you and I must CHOOSE over and over again to walk by FAITH, BELIEVE GOD and TRUST Him. His TRUTH will always triumph our reality. The natural circumstances are always subject to change. Will you give Him all your hurts, disappointments, sorrow, grief, dead dreams, anger, bitterness, resentment etc? I know it is not easy. We can do nothing apart from Him. He will give you the courage and strength to make the great exchange.  It is a beautiful exchange. He is the restorer and promise keeper. Reset your mind on His goodness and fix your gaze straight ahead to Jesus! Oh how He loves you and me!  He is mighty and powerful. We will over come in Jesus Name. The devil is a liar. Our stories are still being written. God is FAITHFUL! The BEST is yet to come! Be encouraged today! God is not finished. He has begun a good work and He will complete it!  Decide TODAY to BELIEVE again.  God has promised, 
"And we know that in ALL things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28 NLT. 


Where are you in the journey? 
I would love to hear from you.

Blessings & Hope,
Robin