Dreams - Renewed in God

Dreams are renewable. No matter what our age or condition, there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born. (Pastor) Dale E. Turner

Are dreams renewable?
Do we really believe that?

I think we'd all agree dreams are important to us. Dreams can get us through terrible ordeals. Dreams seem bigger then ourselves and our limitations. All of us have dreams. They are given to us for a reason. I'm not talking about all dreams - not the strange nonsense ones that sometimes come when sleeping. Yet some dreams while sleeping and dreams/goals/visions conceived while awake are placed on our hearts by God. What we do with them and how we view them are important.

Do dreams define who we are?
No, but the pursuit of them can define us. We can set good dreams but pursue them in unhealthy ways. We may achieve what we want but in the process leave behind hurting people who will have to pick up the pieces trying to understand what went wrong. A caring person looks at their dreams - and the dreams of those around them - and tries to make progress on their dreams without crashing other's dreams, and even at times tries to find a way to motivate others along the realization of their dreams -either by stopping progress of their dreams to help another or trying to juggle both at the same time.

Do we put our hope in our dreams?
NO! Dreams are a stepping stone to something greater - either a new/improved relationship, awareness of self-discovery, contribution to society, etc. Realizing dreams does result in some type of new beauty. Something has changed in a positive way - there is a triumph that is recognizable. Yet neither the pursuit nor the dream is something we should hope in. We can pursue our dreams in a healthy, Biblical manner and still not see them realized. We can know our dreams are appropriate Christian desires and find others trample over them. We can achieve some of our dreams and be more deeply affected by sadness that it wasn't really what we were looking for. It didn't fit the need we were so sure it would. Because dreams often become idols of being puffed up in ourselves - not achieving a goal in order to praise God that He allowed us all the necessary pieces to go after it and succeed. The hope isn't the dream or the pursuit of the dream. It's the One who gave us the dream.

It is really only in that context that dreams can be renewable. Dreams are often crushed by outside forces: illnesses, finances, people. Illnesses and finances are very real struggles that can make us question why. Yet when others have let us down the pain can be unbearable. All of these things bring the temptation to let dreams die. If everything seems against us --dreams feel like a chain weighing us down - saying here I am just out of your reach...what are you going to do about it??

We realize that sometimes just because a dream is a good dream isn't one we need to spend time fighting for. We decide another dream is more important to follow. Sometimes we regroup and attack the same dream - and succeed! We can say dreams teach us about the human spirit - and there is truth in that because dreams exist to teach us about ourselves...Ultimately what we have to learn about ourselves is that God is the One who leads us, grows us and sustains us. Apart from Him all our dreams would fail whether we acknowledge it or not and our lives would collapse in shambles.

At the current moment my dreams are in the re-evaluating phase. Renewing...What is going to be important to me? How am I going to go forward? I don't know what my dreams are going to look like. I don't know who will help me realize them. I know who holds my dreams. I know who holds me in those moments I feel hopeless. He is taking my broken dreams and reshaping them into something I've yet to comprehend. Something I can't see. Though the result is not yet realized I know His love is not holding back. He gives us dreams, so we can see what He is going to do. One day - we'll be amazed at what He made. The pain we knew will be a distant shadow - The dreams that went unrealized will be forgotten. The presence of dreams fulfilled will shine brilliantly and beautifully in the light of the Son - an everlasting testimony of grace and mercy.