When dreams don't come true...

When dreams don’t come true.

I started these musings earlier this year, then stopped because I did not feel worthy to expound on the subject. I really am not more qualified than I was, but since it is a very real part of life, I thought I would share some of my thoughts on hopes and dreams.

…I know that several weeks ago I wrote an entry called “When dreams come true”. God has blessed me in so many incredible ways, causing dreams to come true in my life, dreams I thought would never become reality. Dreams that I didn’t even realize were a dream until they happened, and then I saw how much God knew my heart and just what I wanted. Scripture sure has it right when it says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” Proverbs 12:13

So what do we do, how do we handle the “sick heart” part? Hope has been my theme this year. At Christmas, I went to the clearance section of Menards, and purchased a small sparkly sign with the simple word “Hope” on it. I hung it on my bedroom door as a daily reminder, even taking it overseas with me! Hope is the way out of despair. Hope is the tonic for a sick heart. Hope is one of the ways God uses to lift our eyes and heavy spirit above the clouds of despair and heaviness. If we have lost hope, something is wrong. We are sick, we are not at the level of health we should be. We need healing, we need to be restored.

“The Lord looks down from heaven; he sees all the children of man; from where he sits enthroned he looks out on all the inhabitants of the earth, he who fashions the hearts of them all and observes all their deeds…Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.” Selections from Psalm 33

It has been my experience that Hope can only come from God. It is not something we can create in ourselves. We absolutely do not have the strength to do it. We have to depend on Him, for His strength is made perfect in our weakness. Consider these words:

“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.” Psalm 62:5

“By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas.” Psalm 65:5

I myself have experienced this. I have been to “the ends of the earth” and across “the farthest seas” a few times recently, And I can testify that God is there. He can fan the faintest flame of hope that is sputtering to survive whether you are on a snowy mountain top, or in a hot desert. He loves it when we turn to Him, acknowledging that we are bereft of hope, and ask Him to plant it there in our heart anew. He loves it when we humbly ask, because we are lifting our eyes above our circumstances to meet His eyes alone, and there, and only there will we find hope once again.

“The LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love..." Psalm 147:11

And then He comes. He brings that healing we need at the moment. He encourages us with the sweet gift of the Holy Spirit, and He says to us, “I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope!” Jeremiah 29:11

“This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’ The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.” Lam. 3:21-26

“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.” Psalm 43:5

I am sorry that this was not a post about Africa like I promised. But it is a post from my heart. I will write about Africa soon, I promise. It was another amazing dream realized. I just needed to encourage you and me to look once again to the source of hope. That’s where our dreams stem from.