When Dreams Dont Come True

When Dreams Don’t Come True

“Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue; and the dreams that you dare to
dream really do come true.” So sings Dorothy longingly in The Wizard of Oz. In
a world of heart-crushing disappointments everyone longs for a life with “a happy
ending.”
It is a uniquely human thing to dream dreams – to be able to imagine the ideal
and long for it. And God, far from discouraging our longings, has put a vision of
the future in our hearts which is free of suffering and sin, a life of unending joy
and peace (Rev 21:3-8). Paul assures us that our imagination in its wildest flight
is incapable of overstretching the bounds of what God can do to transform our
lives (Eph 3:20). We are encouraged to dream great dreams of what we can
become and accomplish in the power of God’s Son (Phil 4:13).
Yet those who have dreamed the great dream are not to be faulted for having
other hopes and aspirations. Bright expectations for active and fruitful service.
Earnest visions of happy homes, faithful companions, godly sons and daughters.
Unlike heaven, however, these cannot be assured. Sometimes cherished hopes
for our lives are smashed. What are God’s people to do when their dreams are
simply lost irretrievably?
We are not the first to wrestle with deep disappointment over the course our lives
have taken. The Scriptures are full of examples. I have often wondered what
visions of the future must have filled the mind of young Jeremiah while he grew
up in Anathoth. It would only be natural that the son of a priest should dream of
serving God in a place of honor before the altar in Jerusalem. Perhaps, too, he
looked forward to marriage and to children. He seemed to be the kind of man
who would have cherished family life. But though Jeremiah lived a long life,
none of these things were ever to be. He was destined to serve God, not in a place
of esteem, but in a miry pit of degradation. He seems to have been more often in
prison than in the temple. Instead of love he came to know hatred and abuse,
even from his own close friends and kinsmen. Plots were hatched against his life.
And there was to be no wife and no children (Jer 16:1-2). He dreaded his calling
as a prophet and felt inadequate for the task (1:6). The harsh message made him
an outcast (15:17). At times the burden of his isolation almost overwhelmed him
with despair (20:7-18). Jeremiah evidently died in Egypt – an aged man amidst a
company of faithless Jews who carried him there against his will. Tradition has it
that he was stoned to death. These are not the things a young man’s dreams are
made of.
So, what are we to do when many of our dreams turn to nightmares? What are
we to do when we are overwhelmed by heartbreak almost to despair? We are to
do what multitudes of faithful men and women have done before us. We are to
endure – trust God and endure. We are to remember that it will serve no purpose
to throw our own lives on the funeral bier of our lost dreams. And we need to
remember that we will not always see our trials as we do now. Heaven will
swallow up everything.
Paul said it plainly: “I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward.” (Rom
8:18) We can know that only by faith. Endure, my dear brother and sister. It will
be worth it!
- Paul Earnhart

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The Amazing Story of Jonah

A man being swallowed by a great fish and living to tell about! Who can believe
such a tale? Many people today do not. They scoff at it as some sort of ancient
mythological fable – certainly an incredible story. Though the historical accuracy
of the account can be defended, I want to call your attention to two other aspects
of the story which are truly amazing and often do not get the attention they
deserve.
The prophet Jonah was sent by God to Nineveh, the capital city of Israel’s
dreaded enemy, Assyria. His message was that God had determined to destroy
the Assyrians because of their wickedness.
And the two amazing things in the story?
First: “The people of Nineveh actually believed Jonah’s warning. They called a
fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. (Jonah 3:5)
These pagan, godless people were touched by the message of God’s prophet and
were moved to repentance - how unlike was that!
Second: When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then
God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring
upon them, and He did not do it. (Jonah 3:10) A longsuffering God saw their
repentance and withdrew His planned punishment! We may consider that as
also being amazing, but it really should not be. In chapter 4 we see Jonah upset
and frustrated because he wanted Nineveh to perish, but he knew that even such
people as the Assyrians could enjoy the benefit of God’s marvelous grace.
It is, indeed, an amazing story!
- Leonard White

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The day you were born you cried while others were rejoicing.
Live your life so that the day you die those who love you
may be crying, but you will be rejoicing.

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When you admit that you have been wrong, that often just
means that you are wiser today than you were yesterday.

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