I just so happened to be reading Bob Goff’s Dream Big in 2019 when many of our dreams went from big to bust!
I love Bob Goff’s enthusiasm, authenticity, and heart for everyone. He puts his cell number on the back of his book and says to call anytime. I’ve called him, and he answered, not once, but twice! Who does that?!?
His book was an encouragement and inspiration. At the time though, this book was neither encouraging nor inspiring. At the time we had sold our home and were currently living in a camper while our new home was being built. We were so excited about our new home! We were able to pick out our cabinets, colors, light fixtures and were even able to talk them into making our driveway a little bigger so it would be more like a basketball court. We could not wait for our home to be finished. It almost made living in a camper with four kids and a dog worth it.
The call finally came that they broke ground on our property. I was so excited. I drove out to the lot as soon as I could to see any progress. When I pulled up to the lot I was devastated. Our flat lot was no longer flat. The excavators had to slope the water away from our home at such an angle we lost our yard. We went from our vision of a nice flat backyard to that of a downhill slope for an Olympic ski jumper.
I called the builder immediately and told him we had a problem. He agreed, but there was no solution other than us backing out of our contract.
Our dreams were crushed!
Unfortunately, this was not the last time I’ve experienced this gut-wrenching pain in the past three years. A pain that says there is nothing that can be done. A pain that says everything that you have looked forward to is gone. A pain that makes us look up and ask God, “Why?”
Job describes this as a rock slide. He says this painful process of God destroying our dreams and hopes is just like the rain washing away the dirt and causing the rocks to fall, destroying our hope (14:18-19).
Sound familiar? How are we supposed to deal with shattered dreams and destroyed hopes?
1. Don’t lose faith in God!
Our God is sovereign. Our God reigns not only our world and those in it but the very details of our lives. God has a plan and purpose for everything He does. I might not like my present circumstances, my living conditions, or even my life right now but I must not lose faith in God. If I did not believe God was sovereign in every situation I would have gone mad by now. We cannot lose faith in our God.
2. Learn to wait.
Waiting on God to move during a seemingly impossible situation is extremely difficult. Waiting stinks! God does not base his plans on our calendars. His ways are not our ways. We must learn to wait and trust. David says in Psalm 27:14- “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.”
3. Realize our dreams might not be God’s desires.
I have only driven past “our new house” one time since it has been built. It is a beautiful home. It would have been perfect for us, except for that one small detail. God had another home and another neighborhood for us. We love our home and yard that is currently supporting a flat enough yard for a trampoline that my daughter and her neighborhood friends use constantly.
I wish I could tell you why your dreams are being destroyed right now, or like Job has been destroyed. I wish I could call up our Heavenly Father and ask him “Why.”
I can’t and you honestly are probably better off not knowing. Just like a falling rock, God might not give us those dreams back, but he might replace them (like with Job) with something even more.
Photo by Randy Tarampi on Unsplash
