This is a tricky one today. It’s not too difficult to believe God is with us in our dreams when our dreams are being fulfilled. Believing that in a waiting period, believing that when the dreams are not being fulfilled, I don’t find so easy.
There’s many a time when I’m reticent to share my dreams because I feel embarrassed about them. I’m afraid God might think I’m silly. As a girl who’s grown up in church I’ve been trained in the not-my-will-but-yours method which, to me, mostly meant that I tentatively asked God for watered down versions of things I hoped for while tacking the not-my-will-but-yours phrase on the end in order to save face when it didn’t happen anyway.
I know God hears me when I pray. I know he knows my inner thoughts and is not deceived in any way by my bland requests. When my own children aren’t forthright with their requests to me, I get frustrated with them: I generally have some idea of what they want and desire them to feel they can ask me confidently. Perhaps that’s a little bit of what the scripture at the start of today’s reading means:
“If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” Matthew 7:11
Annie F. Downs writes, “God hears us when we pray. He knows our hearts better than we do. He cares about you, and He cares about your dreams. So share your dreams with your Father, who loves you and loves to give you good gifts.”
I’ve shared my dreams with God recently. Some are for reconciliation and restoration of personal relationships. Some are for outcomes in the lives of people I love. Some are to do with missions and outreach that my friends are involved in. One is for my writing; to discover avenues foe my words that bring me joy while helping others.
It’s scary for me to share my dreams. But as I get older I wonder what the point is in having dreams if I don’t share them? If they are in me why not share them with God and with those who love me? Being laughed at seems less awful that them suffocating inside my heart.
Today’s challenge from the devotional book 100 Days To Brave is:
What dream is in your heart that you haven’t seen God do for you yet? What would it look like to be full of hope, even if you don’t know how this story is going to end?
Choosing to share, and then subsequently choosing to hope is where I am. Some days I do better than others. When I’m not feeling hopeful I remind God that I trust him, trust his ways and his timing and I love him. And I ask him to help me keep my hopes high.
I’d love to hear your dreams and hopes, and how you keep persevering if you don’t see your dreams yet.
I am so reassured when I am reminded that he hasn’t forgotten me. Or that my plan is still evolving.
I dream of being freed up from the mundane and seemingly worthless routine of work so that I can support and help people. And give comfort and share my skills and knowledge and make a difference. Not that I’m clever or a brain surgeon or anything. But I know that I can make a difference. And I dream of a time when that can happen more.
I trust that this interim time is also there for a purpose and that there is more to learn before I get there.
Patience and trust.
Patience and trust, yes. You uniqueness qualifies you to serve and make a difference to those around you, and you already do. Praying for you for all the things! Love Tifainé
I receive emails from Proverbs 31 Ministries and this was the one for today. I thought it was so fitting with our recent readings of dreams so I thought I’d copy/paste it into her. I hope it reaches someone. (the rest of this document is all from their email)
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV)
It had been a particularly exhausting day. My special needs son was driving me a special kind of crazy. My daughters couldn’t share a single toy without erupting into ear-piercing shrieks. The to-do list multiplied. So in an effort to preserve my unraveling sanity and restore order, I called a time-out for each child.
Devotion Graphic
But my son didn’t see this time-out as a good thing. Emotion overwhelmed him, and he struggled to regulate the storm in his unique, autistic mind. In a flash, he grabbed a framed baby picture and hurled it onto the bathroom floor. Hard tile met fragile glass in a clash with no winner — only hundreds of jagged shards.
After ensuring his safety and cleaning up the mess, I stared at that picture. Shattered glass lay in random bits and pieces across the image of my husband and me, gazing at our son’s newborn perfection.
Hot tears bubbled up and spilled over, with liquid pain pouring down my face. This broken picture symbolized a deeper brokenness permeating my heart, for glass wasn’t the only thing to shatter in that moment. My dreams of what it would be like to mother this sweet boy shattered, too.
The new mom in that picture never imagined autism becoming a part of her story.
In agony, I cried out to my heavenly Father, and in His unceasing kindness, He brought to mind today’s key verse:
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21).
Those words, “immeasurably more,” pierced my aching heart. I was gently convicted of the small box I’d put God into — how I’d inadvertently transferred my own narrow vision of motherhood to Him.
In my pain, God opened my eyes to the reality that His plans reach far beyond what my fallible eyes can see. He overwhelmed my heart with love for moms and dads who, like me, face shattered dreams of their own. He infused me with hope that perhaps my pain could be the very thing that draws me into a deeper, sweeter fellowship with Him and with others facing a similar heartache.
And He graciously reminded me that even when I’m staring down circumstances that likely will not change, He can always change me. His joy and hope stand freely available, even as I tiptoe along the broken path.
When our dreams fall apart, it’s hard to imagine something better is possible. But the truth in today’s key verse gives us a powerful promise we can cling to in the face of disintegrating plans.
Shattered dreams are no reason to stop dreaming. Because of His great power at work within us, we can keep on dreaming. For where we see brokenness, God sees “immeasurably more” than even our wildest dreams!
Dear one, God is bigger than your greatest heartache and most shattering disappointment. He is undoubtedly good — even when your path is littered with broken glass. Broken glass is not the end of your story. Indeed, it may very well be the beginning.
Today, may we humbly, and with hearts full of hope, bring God our broken pieces. And may we trust Him enough to keep on dreaming.
Heavenly Father, thank You for dreaming bigger than we could ever dream for ourselves. Take our shattered glass, and turn it into something beautiful, for our good and Your glory. Help us trust in Your heart of goodness toward us. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Thank you so much for sharing, Sarah. Love Tifainé