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PROGRAM D-8361
Everyone experiences the death of a dream. Whether it’s a life-long dream or smaller disappointments, we all have to watch some dreams die. Sadly, some never find the road back from broken dreams and they live in defeat. But it’s not necessary to do so.
This is the topic I want to explore—the road back from your broken dream. Often that journey offers opportunities for growth like no other time in our lives. That is when we are most likely to look up, to recognize our weakness and inadequacy, and to pay attention to what God has to say to us.
I journaled my way through an eighteen-month period in my life—quite a few years ago now—as I made the journey from brokenness to acceptance to, at last, victory. In retrospect, as I re-read those journal entries, I discovered a pattern of sorts—steps and stages that I went through on that road back. There were setbacks and failures but, gradually, day by day, God brought me to a place where I was no longer obsessed by that broken dream and the pain began to turn to joy.
For ten years I pursued my dream, determined to find what I thought would make me happy. But when I came to the end of my rope, I knew I had to make a decision: Would I continue this fruitless pursuit of a broken dream or would I relinquish the control of my life to Jesus Christ?
Often we want God to bless our dreams—when he wants to replace them with something better. We hold up our carefully constructed plan for our lives and say, “Dear Lord, I’ve got this all figured out real good, right down to the minute. I’m sure you’ll agree it’s a good plan. So, please Lord, bless my plan.” But in reality, he’s waiting for us to give him a blank piece of paper and trust him to write the plan for us.
When I recognized that I had to relinquish my dead dream and go with God, or else live my life in futility and frustration and out of sync with God, I took the first step—which was to let go of that dream. Mind you, the dream was not evil, but I had made it the idol of my life. It had become a real stumbling block for me. It was a painful decision, but I sure wish I had made it long before I wasted those ten years.
Is that where you are today—at the decision point? Don’t take ten years or ten days to decide to let go of your broken dream. Take it from one who knows: what you’re really longing for will only be found when you can let go of your broken dream and give God permission to control your life.