Letting a dream die:
I’m sure you have that thing, that one thing that you’ve been believing God for that hasn’t come to pass and you feel like giving up… you’ve been praying, fasting, declaring, believing, holding onto hope but nothing seems to be happening. You may even be saying to yourself “there’s nothing else I can do, I’ve done everything”. I’d like to propose that maybe it’s not necessarily that the dream is over, especially if it’s something you know God spoke to you…but maybe you just need to let your version of that dream die.
What is the dream for you?
-a relationship
-a job
-getting into a certain school
-accomplishing something in a certain time frame
You might be asking, “what do you mean ‘let my dream die?’”
“Don’t hold on so tightly to the will of God that you choke it.” -Bill Johnson
When we are holding onto something so tightly it doesn’t leave room for God to move. Let’s face it, His ways/plans/thoughts are so much higher than ours so it’s not going to happen exactly how and when we imagine it to…and honestly sometimes we’ve spent WAY too much time imagining how it will work out. This can choke it because we won’t want to accept anything other than the “perfect” scenario we’ve dreamt up, we’ve taken what God said and made it our own. So we are laying down our version, our plan, our way, our timeline, our dream and allowing that to die to pick up His. We co-labor with the Lord for His Kingdom to come and His Will to be done.
Gentle reminder: ask yourself “if it didn’t work out the way that you thought it would, would you still love Him, serve Him, and trust Him?” If not, that dream may be an idol and is another indicator that the dream needs to die. Your love for Him has to be infinitely more than the fulfillment of the dream.
When you’re walking with God and living for Jesus we die to ourselves and receive His life.
Since we lay our lives down, we can surely lay our dreams down and allow Him to breathe life into what He truly has for us.
So yes, most likely He has shown you the end goal. A wonderful relationship. A dream career. Getting into the best school. BUT, HE chooses the steps you take to get there. It may look nothing like you imagined, but you can guarantee it’ll be better than you ever even dreamed.
“Within your heart you can make plans for your future, but the Lord chooses the steps you take to get there.” -Proverbs 16:9 TPT
When something dies…
There can be sadness and mourning. When you’ve invested so much time, thoughts, prayers, and anything else into something that doesn’t turn out like you thought it is normal to feel sad or disappointed and that’s okay. Lean into those times and allow God to heal you and refine your vision, a great prayer is “God, let your desires become mine too”. Also hold onto hope that because you’ve let it die before God you allow Him to breathe life into what He truly has for you. You can plant new seeds that will bloom into some so beautiful, something beyond anything you could ever imagine. You’re being set up for the Ephesians 3:20 promise that “…He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination…!” Trust me, God wants better for you than you could ever want for yourself. He is a good Father.
Friend, if you let that dream die before God GET READY! The Word says to “forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing…”. He is making all things new, and He says “it’s NOTHING compared to what I am going to do”. The dream is not over, it’s just going to be better than you could ever imagine. Trust Him.
““But forget all that— it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”
Isaiah 43:18-19 NLT
““Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
Isaiah 43:18-19 NIV
