Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. – Romans 5:3-4
Dreams, plans…we all have them. Our expectations start to build, and we look forward to the results, which we think or know will be good. We will reap the benefits and from there we will go onwards and upwards. Then suddenly, things go bust and everything is shattered.
Our hopes and dreams go on a downward spiral. Disappointment, sadness and perhaps anger rise and replace all the good feelings we had. The mad scramble to make sense of what happened begins as we question whether it could have been prevented in the first place. Why didn’t I see the warning signs? Why didn’t I ask the right questions? Why did this have to happen to me?
When our dreams and plans are suddenly taken away from us, we do suffer. The sense of loss and shock we experience when we get knocked down can be great. We had hoped to do so much but ended up with nothing. Now we must work out what we will do next. Will we stay on the ground, or we will get up?
Our sufferings will either make us or break us. God wants it to make us. He knows that we need time to take stock and decide what we should do next. There is a time for staying on the ground, but it is not to last forever. Even though it may be difficult, God wants us to stand up because this is only one small hiccup in His greater plan for you.
Sometimes we need certain plans and dreams to fail. It stretches us to think of what else we can do to get back on track. It also helps us to learn to look towards God for the answer. The plans you were making may not have involved God or took your focus away from Him. It became all about you and what you would do. You needed to lose the dream in order to get your eyes back on the ultimate plan maker.
Other dreams and plans may fail due to circumstances beyond your control. You are unsure of what to do next and what to focus on. Your faith can go in either direction. Will you blame God, or will you ask Him for help?
No matter how your dreams and plans end, God doesn’t want it to be the end of you. He wants you to learn from the failure and become stronger because of it. Most of all, God wants us to keep hoping. Hope should never die just because one plan fails. That plan or dream may have been wrong all the time and we needed to be shocked out of it. When one dream ends, there will always be another to take its place. That is what hope is all about. Our ultimate hope should always be in God and if God is for us (and our plans) who can be against us?
Originally published September 2018