Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 3:00 — )
PROGRAM D-8365
Have you watched a dream die lately? Maybe your dream was a job you wanted but didn’t get, or a mate you’ve desired and haven’t found. Perhaps it’s a goal you haven’t been able to reach, a baby you haven’t been able to birth, or a marriage that has been dissolved. Broken dreams are a part of life, and this week I’ve been exploring the journey back when your dream dies.
The pain cannot be avoided. We have to embrace it and ask God to turn it into something good. But I want you to know that the pain doesn’t last forever. As I made my long journey back from a broken dream, there would come moments of joy and lightness of spirit. It took me by surprise; I think I believed that I would never be happy or lighthearted again. Having accepted that life could be dreary forever, these times of sheer delight brought hope and anticipation.
As the journey back from brokenness continues, the realization that life can be good again is almost more than we can comprehend. It is a little frightening; sometimes we feel guilty being happy. Then we begin to understand that God has good days ahead for us.
Then after considerable time on this road back from a broken dream, we realize that we’ve come a long way and, indeed, we have a perspective of the experience that we could never have imagined. The corner has been turned, and though we’ll never forget the journey and the pain, we know that God has lifted the burden, opened our eyes, and started us now on a new path of joy and service.
If you’re in the midst of the death of your dream right now, it will be difficult for you to believe that you’ll ever have another good day or life will ever hold excitement for you again. But don’t forget God’s power and his promises. Isaiah 61:1-3 reminds us of this:
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. . .to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
Paul wrote to the Galatians, “Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing?” (Galatians 3:4) I would echo his words today and encourage you in this way: Wherever you are on this road back from a broken dream, make it count for good in your life. God is able to turn it into something truly worthwhile, but only if you will allow Him to do so. Believe me, as one who held out for years and years, it is foolish to do so. He can replace your broken dream with a new one—better and more fulfilling than you’ll ever believe.