Have you been dreaming lately?
I’m not talking about the now-I-lay-me-down-to-sleep kind of dreaming. No. I’m talking about the eyes-wide-open dreams. The ones requiring planning. And effort. And waiting. And praying.
Those kind of dreams.
If you’d asked me if dreams involved hope, I would have said “Yes, absolutely” without pausing to think about. Dreams demand massive amounts of hope.
But do dreams involve trust?
Ah … now I’m pondering dreams … and how they are woven through with hope and trust.
To dream, I have to open myself up to hope — to the possibility of discouragement, of failure. I have to be vulnerable.
Only by hoping can I choose to trust — myself, my mentors, the process of trying … and failing … and trying again.
The deeper question is: Am I blocking my dreams? Have I abandoned hope and strangled trust? And if I have, how do I nourish them again so that my dreams are revived?
In Your Words: How has hope and trust worked together to nurture your dreams? When your hope and trust lags, how do you restore them — and renew your dreams?
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Renewing Dreams by Restoring Hope & Trust Click to Tweet
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Comments 19
Beautiful post, Beth. And, I hadn’t thought about the trust aspect of dreams. But you’re right, trust is required.
When the dream to write came on strong a few years ago, I got excited. As I learned the craft of writing, hope began to blossom through encouragement from those further along the writing road. Trust has come in as I have grown in depending on God to make my dream of publication a reality. First, trust came after reading a blog that opened my eyes to the fact that God gave ME my story, not someone else. He gave it to me so I would write it with my voice. If He gave it to me, then He will also enable me to fulfill the “calling” to get the story written, and even “out there.”
This is where trust has really come in for me. Trusting that He will help me to write well, and for His glory. Trusting that He will guide me and give me the time and the words.
When hope and trust wane, I find myself going back to God for reassurance, but I also talk with trusted friends who restore an accurate perspective. Okay, there’s my mini-novel.
Loved your post today!
Author
Thank you for sharing such encouraging words today, Jeanne!
Good words, Beth. When I start to waver, which is more often than I would like to admit, I go back to my original moment of commitment. I believe we have to commit to our dreams like we do in a relationship. It’s not always fun and easy, but I did make a conscience decision to do this writing thing and I’ll stick to it through the good and the bad. God put the desire there and it’s too heartbreaking to deny it. Besides, what else am I going to do…take up needlepoint?
Blessings!
Author
Great insight, Jan! Yes, any dream requires commitment. One time a writing friend of mine was wavering on her commitment. I sent her a photo of a wooden stake driven into the ground, reminding her that we had “driven a stake” into the commitment that she was — and always would be — a writer. No more debating.
I can hope because I trust the One who gives dreams. If I couldn’t trust Him to fulfill His purposes/dreams in my life, I would have no hope. So yes, I think they go together and I feel like, for me personally, trust is first.
Author
Jess:
God is the dream-giver.
And he is trustworthy.
So agree with Jeanne and Jessica! For many years I have prayed for God to fill me with HIs desires and I trust that God will bring His desires (dreams) for me to fruition!
Author
Hmmm.
So the equation would be: Hope + Trust= Faith.
There’s also the issue of time, and many God-given priorities. I need His help in getting some narrowed down but know some of them won’t change soon. I think I’m in the squeeze shoot of having Him teach me “quality,” not “quantity,” and that’s okay.
Author
Excellent point, Dee. There are choices that have to be made — a true refining of our lives, and our time.
I feel like hope is most possible when I’m most rooted in trusting God…it just is. I can hope and hope and hope in all kinds of things, but when God and his great plan and awesome timing are the all-caps HOPE in my life, then I know my dreams are tethered to the right thing.
Author
God = the all=caps HOPE.
I like that.
I refuse to abandon my dreams.
In 1985, someone forced my hand open on my dreams and ripped them away from me. In a very un-Christ-like manner, someone destroyed my desire and ability to do mission work. Over time, I told hold of those dreams again, and in 2008, God allowed me to return to South America. The beauty of a dream is it will not die, it may go dormant, but if it s God-given, Spring will come again.
And not just a regular Spring, as it comes each year, a Spring like the first one God ever made.
He will turn ashes to beauty. If you leave your broken dreams to Him, He will blow the skies open and rain Spring blessings down on you that you had no idea were coming.
Author
I smiled as I read your comment, JZM. It was woven through with hope … and trust.
(Tried to comment earlier, but it vanished into the ether…if it duplicates, I’m sorry!)
Good post!
I’ve come to a place where my dreams all seem to be going to ashes, and the only thing to do is to keep working.
There are times I no longer believe in them, or in myself…but I have to hold onto the knowledge that there was something of value in them, and something of value in myself. It may be theoretical, but that doesn’t matter…keeping on is the only way to keep them alive.
Our dreams, when they come from a heart that’s true to God, are not ours alone. We share them with God, and we have a responsibility to carry our end of the log, even if it feels like He’s not carrying His end. The thing is – He is there, but if we’re on a slope, and He’s upslope from us…our end feels heavier.
The other important thing to remember, when dreams fade, is that they have a wider impact, and that there are almost always people who are watching us…and if we lose heart, we take away something from their ability and hope.
We’re all in this together, and our dreams fit into a mosaic whose full extent and beauty we cannot see from our perspective. To give up is to leave a hole that can never be filled.
Beth, what a beautiful post!
There are times when my dream feels like the light at the end of the tunnel, so hard to reach. But one thing I have learned from my friends is that the journey is just as important as the attainment of my dream. Through the pursuit of the dream God is shaping me into who he wants me to be. So when I get discouraged I remember that it is more than the dream itself. Then of course, on my desk is the sign, “It’s not brain surgery.” That helps me remember that there are harder things in life than chasing a dream. The ability to chase it is a gift in itself.
Great post, Beth. I know in my life, trust is critical. God keeps calling me to dream bigger dreams. That’s so scary, but I want to be in the middle of His will. I think He’s really calling me to trust Him more…and to go on a journey where I’m willing to do that.
I’m pondering this post and the questions, Beth.
Such timing! Just yesterday (Sunday), I was wondering if I’ve ever truly believed by faith that my biggest dream will come true. It’s not only a dream, but something I was promised by God. Finding that place where faith meets hope and doubt slips away has been difficult, but I hope to attain that fascinating moment very soon.
Blessings,
Andrea