Shattered Dreams?

Nothing stretches our faith like a shattered dream. The first and ever-present question on our mind is "does God really care about me and the desires of my heart”. The long-held dream seems to fade away as we begin to frustrated and fretful, and there is great temptation to either take matters into our own hands or slip into a second rate, low grade, meaningless Christian life.

One of my Bible heroes is Joseph, known as the dreamer. God gave him  an exciting dream as a 17 yr old boy. Soon after, he was sold by  his brothers, taken away from home, made a slave, falsely accused by a powerful woman, thrown into prison for 14 yrs…dreams don’t get much more shattered!!

It was the way Joseph behaved during those ordeals that makes him my hero . Through all of his experiences he kept trusting God and giving his best effort to every task set before him. He was a good slave, honest, hard working, helpful, kind, innovative and productive.

He had no idea why God was putting him through the Egyptian university of character building, or why he was ultimately placed in such a high position of authority under Pharaoh. But there WAS a plan being unfolded.

He just trusted and obeyed.

When God gives us a dream for our future, we should not get the idea that it is up to us how it is carried out. It is His plan, not ours. His timing may not be to our liking, but He has a purpose for every experience we go through. When I look back over my life I have to admit that I grew most during the darkest hours and the toughest struggles . Didn’t you?

Are your dreams shattered? I encourage you to put the broken pieces into the Father’s hands and remember that He is a good and faithful God who can be trusted to fulfill His promises.

Be patient!  

Maybe tomorrow….

Philippians 1:6
being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.