DREAM AGAIN

Day 7

Saturday, January 8

Read:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Devote:

There is a line in the serenity prayer commonly prayed in 12-step meetings that asks God to help us to accept “hardship as a pathway to peace; taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it”. That line always stuck out to me because so much of my energy was spent trying to fix and control circumstances and the people around me in order to create a life as I would have it... striving to make my dreams come true. Clearly this didn’t work. In the aftermath of my divorce, I lost my home, my credit was ruined, and it felt like, one by one, all of the safety nets I set up for myself, and the life I was trying to build were completely dismantled.  Life was not as I would have it. At one point, I found myself truly grieving this and cried to God, “It didn’t turn out how I thought it would”. God listened. And then, He spoke to my heart. I rescued you. The absurdity of this statement was almost laughable. There was nothing about what I was going through that even remotely resembled rescuing. I rescued you from your version of the dream... I will redeem the dream. This promise, that God would redeem the dream, that He would restore family to me, gave me hope that the season I was in wouldn’t last forever. I know God to be a redeemer. Today, several years after the divorce, I can tell you that he has redeemed my dream for my family to be restored. In March of 2014, I was married to an incredible man who is a wonderful, loving, second father to my beautiful daughter! In January of 2018, we had a sweet baby boy who has brought so much joy to our home. I love the story of Joseph, because it’s an example of a dreamer who trusted God, even when it appeared that all of his dreams were shattered. He was betrayed by family, abandoned, enslaved, imprisoned, and forgotten. Through it all, God was with Joseph. Ultimately, His truth in God enabled him to rise above his circumstances and save his family and all of Egypt from famine. God used every single bit of Joseph’s life and story for good! God redeemed the dream. I wonder if Joseph was ever tempted to give up the dream? Instead, he stayed faithful throughout all of his seasons and circumstances, allowed God to use him, and kept dreaming. A nation was saved because of his faithfulness. I don’t know what you are going through. I don’t know what kind of trials or attacks the God dreams for your life have suffered. But I do know this—God is a redeemer. He is faithful. As you keep dreaming, keep trusting, keep persevering… God will redeem the dream.

Journal:

God often will not redeem a dream that you refuse to surrender to Him. What are some ways you can surrender to Him the God-dream He has placed on your heart?

Reflect:

Consider the ramifications of your unsurrendered expectations. Now consider the joy of your dream being fulfilled after you have surrendered it to God for Him to redeem.

Pray:

Thank you God, for the dream you’ve placed on my heart. I surrender it to you and fully submit myself to your will for my life. Amen. 

Author:

Dreams Redeemed by Harmony Grillo