I am a dreamer. I get lost in my thoughts and imagine a world with no problems. My dreaming easily fills my days if I let it. But dreaming goes beyond white, puffy cloud musings on a summer day or making a wish as I blow out the candles on my birthday cake.
Dreams are not just “could be” happenings when the stars align. Or pipe dreams that never get farther than the drawing board. Our dreams are also goals waiting to break into reality. Or hopes that turn into actuality with hard work and belief in oneself.
As a child, I had two big dreams for my future – become a teacher and get married. Both came true! But the truth lies in the story of “me” that God wrote chapter by chapter even before I was born.
God’s story does not always look like the dreams of our afternoon imaginings. Sometimes a dream, like becoming a teacher, is one that lasts for 30 years. Other times, a dream, like getting married, is a short-lived, matchless chapter I wrote on marriage in my own head.
God’s beautiful plan supersedes the dreams we have conjured up on a summer afternoon. The challenge comes when the hope we placed in our dreams becomes misplaced. Then hope turns into fear and uncertainty of the future. What do we do when the dreamer in us is broken and our future is a blank canvas?
The story of Job tells of brokenness and shattered dreams. The choice he made as he suffered over and over looks like hope rather than despair. His lament for what was became a song for what will be.
My days have passed, my plans are shattered.
Yet the desires of my heart
12 turn night into day;
in the face of the darkness light is near. Job 17:11-12
My story of marriage shattered and with it my childlike dream of love. But like Job, I found hope. My summertime musings turned into truth the day I invited God to take my simple dreams and make them into His beautiful reality. The key to dreaming is accepting God as the keeper and developer of the dreams.
I opened my heart and looked for Jesus in my life. I asked Him “why” questions over and over, and found my answers in Him. In the process, my dreaming didn’t stop, and in the reworking our patient God taught me this…
We nurture dreams when we feed them with hope, purpose and trust.
What begins as a fleeting thought can easily blossom into hope for the future. What looks good on paper may turn into a career that lasts for thirty years. Brokenness is made whole again.
Dreams are the visions we imagine and release to God to mold, shape and grow.
When we let go, God creates amazing beauty. He makes all things beautiful!
He covers the sky with clouds;
he supplies the earth with rain
and makes grass grow on the hills.
9 He provides food for the cattle
and for the young ravens when they call. Psalm 147:8-9
Dreams shatter but God is the healer of brokenness. He loves nothing more than to put the shards of our lives back together again.
Let go, let God and release the hurt. His truth, love and grace is the healing balm we need.
We find truth in dreams when we make God the center of who we are and what we want to become.
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32
Show me your ways, Lord,
teach me your paths.
5 Guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long. Psalm 25:4-5
[Tweet “Brokenness looks like hope when we allow God to be the keeper of our dreams.”]
Whether our dreams are child-like or grown up, truth occurs when God takes the chapters of our lives and makes them into a beautiful reality. Brokenness looks like hope and shattered pieces of life turned into a masterpiece when we allow God to be the keeper of our dreams.
Still a dreamer,
Find me at Kelly Balarie’s Purposeful Faith today.
Mary!
I smiled all the way through this… I love how you weave hope and faith into the beauty that dreams place in our lives. The goals waiting to break into reality and hopes becoming an actuality…. I love those pieces you left for us. Such an encouraging gift your words have been today.
Thank you for sharing them at the #GraceMoments Link up!
Blessings,
Dawn
You blessed me so much with this sweet offering of encouragement. I love how God is in the dreams we wish for and go after. He is the promise when they do not come true and the hope to keep us dreaming. I live with a hope for the future and a belief that God is always who He says He is. Thank you for being here. I love linking up with you at your beautiful home.
Mary,
This reminds me of artists who make beautiful mosaics out of pieces of broken glass. In this analogy, God is the artist who works the broken pieces of our lives into something truly beautiful. I think those who have suffered and endured trials have a depth and beauty like no other…that includes you sweet friend!
Blessings,
Bev xo
I like the analogy of the mosaics made from broken glass. We really are just pieces that God makes whole when we follow Him and let Him love us. I am so honored that you believe I have beauty and depth. It is only because of God. I pray you have a beautiful week.
My husband is a dreamer too, Mary, and having your dreams altered can be very hard, especially later in life. Learning to refocus and let God direct our steps isn’t always easy, but always worth it! You were a beautiful bride – what a great picture!
We should never stop dreaming but as we do we should hold onto the truths that God, the keeper of our dreams, has for us. This refocusing and redirection process is challenging but also one that reaps beautiful rewards.
The picture of my mom and I is one of my favorites. I’m glad you liked it.
I am still a dreamer too! God’s plans for me are what I want to walk into.
Amen. God’s plans are the best plans and He will never lead us astray. Thank you for being here Patti.
This image: God takes our dreams and makes them into His beautiful reality.
So precious. And what a gift to thank Him for!
Amen. Gratefulness for the gift of being a child of God leads us closer to Him. I pray we continue to dream knowing God will carefully set the dreams free when it is time. Happy weekend to you!
Absolutely beautiful. And full of hope.
Thank you Lynn for your sweet encouragement. I pray your weekend is blessed.
Our dreams do often have to change. My original dreams have had to be altered quite a bit through the years too! 🙂 But yes, God is the keeper of our dreams and I’m thankful that he knows much better than I do. If I had gotten my way about everything, oh my. ha.
I’m smiling over your last comment. It would not be a good thing if I had gotten my way in all things either. Dreams do change but God replaces the broken pieces of our dreams with His hope. It is a beautiful thing. Blessing on your weekend.
Thank you, Mary. I have dreams and in my older years, I am learning to trust them to God. However they turn out, if I have laid them in His Hands, then whatever the outcome is the right one. Thank you for encouraging me along this journey.
I love hearing that you have dreams. We shouldn’t ever stop dreaming. I love the reminder to lay the dreams in God’s hands. He will guide us to the outcome and lead us the way we should go. It is good to have you here today, Linda.
Thank you for this encouraging post, Mary. There is so much hope in this – “Dreams shatter but God is the healer of brokenness. He loves nothing more than to put the shards of our lives back together again.” His love is so amazing! Blessings and hugs to you!
First of all, it is so good to see you Trudy. I have missed you. Second, thank you for blessing me with your words of encouragement. God is the healer of our brokenness because He loves to see our dreams come true. Blessings friend!
Mary, grateful for the transparency in sharing how God works through our brokenness. And I am grateful you are still a dreamer! Beautiful post sure to fill many with hope that our God works in and through all things in our lives. Blessings!
Thank you for the blessing of your encouragement today. God has such a beautiful future planned for me that dreaming of what can be and hoping in God gives me peace. I pray that the hope we can gain in our brokenness resonates with others and leaves them with a sense of peace too. Blessings!
This is powerful truth, Mary. Who would imagine that brokenness could ever look like hope? And yet, as your story shows, God is more than able to bring that to pass. He truly is the restorer of broken hearts and the redeemer of shattered dreams.
Thank you for these sweet words. God does not let us stay broken but we need to invite Him to be in our lives. He loves nothing more than to redeem and restore us into wholeness again. May our brokenness become our greatest hope as we trust God to pull us through.
My first marriage, a dream I had for so many years, ended broken – I was devastated and could hardly breathe. But I did. It took me years before I stopped blaming God for that broken marriage and He was ever so merciful to me. Years ago, the Lord gave me this: “Hope based on anything less than Jesus Christ is as futile as wishing upon a star.” His Hope takes our brokenness and turns it into something for His glory and our good. xo
(Love that wedding photo with your Mom.)
Amen! You have lived wholeness and brokenness and you know the hope of Jesus. I love learning about hope from you. That picture of my mom and I is one of my favorites. I love all the feels behind the faces. Thank you for your wisdom and for being here.
Amen, Mary, Amen! Thankful for you and all you testify about the Lord here. His dreams rock, and our dreams are so much better when they’re in His hands- broken as they may be!
I am standing in agreement with your words here today. God should always be the keeper of our dreams because He makes all things beautiful whether broken or whole. Thank you for being here and encouraging me so well.