Don’t Stop Dreaming: the Promise of Jesus (day 5/7) - Blog # 31
Read Part 1: the surrender (day 1/7) - Blog # 27
Read Part 2: Embracing out Grief: the Sadness of Saturday (day 2/7) - Blog # 28
Read Part 3: Carry the Burden: Community in Christ (day 3/7) - Blog # 29
Read Part 4: Finding Favor in the Here and Now (day 4/7) - Blog # 30
Opening Prayer:
Dear God,
In the midst of our confusion, You are not confused. In the midst of our surprise, You are not taken aback. In the midst of our broken dreams, You see the better promise ahead. God, we are nothing but dust: here today and gone tomorrow. Who are we that You are mindful of us? God have mercy on our lives, hear our prayers, see our hearts, and know that we are in desperate need of Your saving grace. Lord, continue to guide us. We need You. We belong to You, don’t forsake us now, especially now.
In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
Dreaming Again
I wonder if I’ll ever stop feeling confused.
Maybe that’s why we need God to give us peace beyond our understanding because that’s what I need. I’m desperate for peace. The purpose of today’s blog is to teach you to hope again after your hopes died. The purpose of today’s blog is to speak over the good news of Jesus over your life as the sole reason for the hope you are able to have no matter what your circumstances look like.
Philipians 4: 6-8 [AMP]
Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God. 7 And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours].
8 Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart].
The truth is that in my confusion, I feel lost on what to do. In a blog I wrote a few months ago, INTO THE UNKNOWN: WHAT IS GOD'S WILL FOR MY LIFE? - BLOG # 25, I talked about how God wants you to love Him, love others/be in community, and obey Him. I also wrote a blog about how the sufferings and trials of life can leave us confused on what steps to take next, LIFE SUCKS: WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT? HOW GOD WORKS ALL THINGS FOR GOOD - BLOG # 24, I talked about how God wants the best for us, yet the best can look like a difficult season and a confusing period of desperation and tears. God can and will use this time to refine you: to grow you in faith, hope, and love.
“So, we're in the thick of our pain. Maybe we're just in a confusing space. We don't know what's up or down, but suddenly we have to decide what to do. In any situation, God wants us to store up eternal treasures. Anything we do should be adding to these 3 qualities. When you come across a choice that isn’t black-and-white, ask yourself what will produce in me more faith, hope, and love in God? Follow that choice.
Sometimes we wonder what the right choice looks like when neither choice is sinful or inherently wrong. We don’t know what job offer to take on. We don’t know if this role in ministry is right for us. We don’t know if pursuing this relationship is the right step. We don’t know if this is the right community to be in. We don't know how to heal from this horrible situation. We don’t know what’s good and what’s better and what's God's best.
Ask yourself: which choice will be an act of faith, hope, and love? Will this lead you to seek out God more or run from Him? Will this choice cause You to trust God more or to lean into your own understanding? What will challenge you to sacrifice something in the name of faith?”
Upon looking back, this is a difficult task too. What choice will grow you in more faith, hope, and love? I thought pursuing my dreams were growing me, and maybe for a season they were but now a new season has come. “But God, I thought these were good dreams. I thought You gave me these dreams. Why would You let this happen? Where are the dreams now?”
I’ve been asking myself these questions a lot lately. I don’t know if God will give me all the answers I’m looking for, but the answers He’s already given me don’t satisfy me. Nothing on this earth can satisfy the hurt that longings left unfulfilled have left me besides Jesus.
God Grows Dreams Himself
Can I share with you something about hopes? God may have given you dreams, seeds to be planted, but after sowing them -- now it is up to God to make them grow. It is up to God alone to make it happen.
1 Corinthians 3: 6-7
I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
The thing about faith is knowing that it may never grow. The thing about faith is that our hope is in God not the seed. God doesn’t give us dreams so that we can obsess over them. God doesn’t give us dreams so that we love the dreams more than Him. God gives us the dream so that we can grow closer to experiencing Him. So that we can know the fullness and glory of our God who loves us.
God doesn’t tell us to pursue our dreams, He tell us to believe in Him and if it’s within His will then He will make it happen.
Isaiah 60:22 - "When the time is right, I, the Lord, will make it happen."
God doesn’t tell you to make it happen. God doesn’t say you should pursue the dream. God says when the time is right, He’ll make it happen. God tells us to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). God tells us to love Him first as our only love.
Exodus 20:3-4
“You shall have no other gods before me.
“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
Sometimes we can idolize the dream or what the dream meant: security, love, comfort, belonging, etc. None of these things are wrong, but we can’t place it above God or what God wants for us.
So, let’s make a new list of dreams together. We need to dream again. Humans live off hope. We cannot go on without hope. Dreaming again isn’t just a nice thing to have, it’s vital for our wellbeing. Hope to humans is fuels to cars, it gets us from Point A to Point B.
How to Hope Again
Understand that God heard you.
In the midst of my suffering, one of the worst things I’ve experienced is feeling like I was living in a fantasy that I had made for myself only to have it crumble. It hurts most when people tell me that I might have misunderstood God or that it was my own selfish desires.
God knows how much I prayed. God knows how much I asked for wisdom and insight. God knows the tears. God heard me, and He knew what the dreams I thought from Him were. Maybe He wanted me to know that the dreams weren’t for me to be crushed by, they were to draw me closer to Him.
God knows. He knows you trusted Him with a precious part of yourself. You didn’t hear wrong, but it’s time to let it go to God’s hands.
Give up the part of the dream that isn’t part of God’s plans.
Give yourself space to grieve, but maybe not everything you imagined is part of God’s plan for you. Maybe He did tell you something, but some things will not be according to your plans.
Sometimes it means God said ‘yes’ to the marriage only for you to be filing divorce papers the first year. Perhaps we dreamed of an easy marriage, and we have to give up that dream.
Sometimes God said ‘yes’ to that relationship only for it to end. Maybe God only desired for it to last for a season, and we have to give up the dream of marrying that person.
Sometimes God said ‘yes’ to the job only for you to deal with gossipy coworkers and entitled bosses. Maybe we dreamed of a job where we would naturally love the people around us, and we have to give up our dream of social comfort.
Choose to focus on God’s promises.
During this sensitive season, we need to rebuild our grasp on what we can be assured of. When we’re thrown into the unknown, the best way to climb out is by figuring out what we do know.
I think it would be good to find God’s promises in the Bible and spend time in meditation over them. It’s how you rebuild your trust in yourself and in God.
You start to know exactly what God has assured you of again, and it gives you the strength and confidence to live again.
Dream about knowing Jesus, loving Jesus, and becoming like Jesus.
When our dreams die, the last person we can want to go to is Jesus because it’s easy to blame Him for what happened. It’s easy to get mad at Jesus for “taking” away something you loved or wanted. It’s easy to reject Jesus because Jesus didn’t do things your way or in the timing you wanted it to happen.
I get it.
I understand.
God understands.
I ask you to take some time in prayer and reflection to ask what Jesus is saying to you, how Jesus is loving you, and what He is doing in this moment for your good. If you’re not ready for that, ask Jesus for help to know that He is good.
Jesus loves you. He will come take everything ugly, everything that was broken, everything that was shattered, and make it beautiful again.
Cry out.
Tell God how disappointed you are. Tell God how angry, how sad, and how much suffering is in your heart. Tell God. Tell God in the morning. Tell God when you wake up. Tell God in every moment. God wants to just be with you in all that you are.
Be thankful.
Reflect on all of God’s goodness in your life. When we experience loss, it is easy to hyperfocus on what we no longer have. It’s easy to condition ourselves on what we’ve lost, what’s gone, but we have so much to gain because of Jesus.
Jesus is our greatest comforter.
Jesus listens.
Jesus understands.
Jesus is our friend.
Jesus is our good shepherd.
Jesus.
Be thankful for Jesus.
Reflect on who God is.
God is who He says He is.
God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to you.’” Exodus 3:14
God is Your strong fortress.
The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Psalm 18:2
God doesn’t change His mind. He fulfills His good plans.
God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? Numbers 23:19
God keeps His promises. He extends His love over generations.
Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations, Deuteronomy 7:9
God is with You. God is Your God.
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10
The Lord is our Light. The Lord is our Salvation.
Of David. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1
The Lord is good.
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Psalm 34:8
The Lord is the Creator of the Earth. The Lord doesn’t get tired. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faith.
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Isaiah 40:28-29
Reflect on who you are and what you have in Jesus. (Inspired by Knowing Who I Am in Christ - Joyce Meyer)
I am a new creation. I am no longer bound to my past, my sin, and my shame. I am no longer who others say I am. I am no longer who I even say I am. I am who God says I am.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
I am no longer subjected to death but life. I have received the free gift of God’s grace and righteousness through Jesus.
Romans 5:17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
I am now filled with mercy. I do not cast judgements onto others. I give them understanding. I give them favor. I forgive.
Luke 6:36-38 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
I have overcome the world. I have overcome sin and death by the blood of Jesus and the testimony of my life.
Revelation 12:11 And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.
No one can stand against me all the days of my life because God is with me.
Joshua 1:5 No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
I am not abandoned. God remembers His promises to me. God will not forget or destroy me.
Deuteronomy 4:31 For the LORD your God is a merciful God; He will not abandon you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers, which He swore to them by oath.
God is with me.
Exodus 3:12 "I will surely be with you," God said, "and this will be the sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, all of you will worship God on this mountain."
God goes before me. God will be with me. I don’t need to be afraid. I don’t need to feel discouraged.
Deuteronomy 31:8 The LORD Himself goes before you; He will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid or discouraged."
Ending Remarks
Sometimes to dream again, we have to plant seeds of hope first. It looks like opening your Bible. It looks like meditating over scripture. It looks like forgiveness. It looks like praying the same prayer over and over again. It looks like crying out to Jesus.
I know it’s hard, believe me, I’m with you. I know it looks nothing like the dream, but we can’t stop here -- the dream is living with God -- and sometimes it’s hard. Sometimes it’s confusing. Sometimes it’s tear-filled praise and thanksgiving. Sometimes our battles are won with our heads down and our knees on the ground.
I have to dream again. I’ll take my time, but out of the ashes Jesus rose again and so will I. May the peace of God which transcends all understanding rest on your soul.
Closing Prayer:
Dear God,
I pray for all my brothers and sisters struggling. I pray over their lost visions and dreams. I ask that you plant seeds of hope in them again. I pray this blog would soothe their wounded souls. I ask that Your love would wash over them like a flood: an all-consuming love. Lord, we receive Your mercy and goodness. On their behalf, I receive for them. Help us to see the greater glory ahead. Help us to have dreams that draw us closer to You. Help us to endure the hardships. Help us to know that this is part of the dream.
In Jesus name I pray,
Amen
Read:
How to Fix Your Thoughts On Jesus
Read Part 6: Renewed and Refreshed: Guided by God (day 6/7) - Blog # 32
Read Part 7: Have More Grace (day 7/7) - Day # 33
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