Originally published Sunday, 01 June 2014.
To celebrate my birthday month, Dream Devotional is free June 1-5th on Amazon. You can get your copy here.
It's been such an honor to take this journey with you over the past 40 days. I've personally enjoyed hearing from so many of you about your hopes and dreams. It's also been humbling to hear about your broken dreams. I know some of you are still very much longing. Waiting. Wishing you could dream, and struggling to believe again.
You are not alone.
The reason why I wrote Dream Devotional is because of my own experiences with broken dreams. The doubt. The anguish. Wanting to walk away from my dreams. Last week, I wrote on Facebook:
"I'm still nursing a broken heart from the way things went down with Forgiving Others, Forgiving Me. I was trying to stay strong. To pretend I was okay. But I'm not. My heart aches. I have no idea the new path God has for me, and although I know that deep down--today I just wanted to cut up all my future book projects, my blog, and just walk away from the hurt. Would you pray for me? For comfort and rest?"
Although I was blown away by the encouragement -- dreaming isn't a 3-step process, a fill in the blanks, or name-it-and-claim-it process.
No!
I wish it was, but it's not.
Dreaming requires risk, vulnerability, and an open heart. Maybe you feel like if you let go of your dream, everything will fall apart. I know at times I feel like it hurts more to continue dreaming than if I were just to stop. But I can't. I won't. I must release my dreams back to God where they belong so He can resurrect them in His timing. {Read what I wrote last week why dreaming belongs to God.}
In Day #35 of #40 in Dream Devotional, I shared something I've never shared before. Words from a manuscript that was canceled by my publisher the day I turned it in. Ironically, the words that I wrote were about comforting the broken. It's painful when God allows you to eat your own words. It's not until He knows that you can take your own advice that He uses you to comfort others. I wanted to share an excerpt from Day #35 - Comforting the Broken:
Nobody likes to suffer. C. S. Lewis said, “I answer that suffering is not good in itself.” Denying oneself is painful. It doesn’t feel natural. However countercultural it may seem, God calls us to pick up our cross and follow Him. The weight of sin, guilt, and shame far outweigh submission to Christ. So, what do I say to someone who has no direction in life and is overwhelmed on how to move forward? Look to Christ.
The hardest part to figuring out brokenness that goes on for a long period of time is where it’s coming from. When everything hits the fan (and it will), and you’re left scrambling with thoughts, temptation, blame, or whatever else comes to mind, remember that bad things happen to all people. Not just the godly. Ask God to help you get your emotions out of the way and allow Him to use your brokenness to comfort others who are broken just like you!
If you’re like me, we want to know why we’re broken. I want to encourage others, but I also want to know why I’m suffering. I remember a time in my life when I was doing everything right, yet I was still broken. I had read Hosea 6:1–3. God had torn me to pieces and bandaged my wounds. Yet why was I still bleeding? I re-read verse 3 many times.
It said, “As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.”
I was doing everything right, yet my perfect obedience did not guarantee a perfect outcome to my life. Besides learning what to do when God says no is even harder to move forward when God says nothing. Like me, you might even believe it’s your fault.
Don’t believe the lies.
God may be pruning you for an even greater work.
The hard part is waiting. It requires more courage to stand. Be still. Do not lose hope while your friends go happily along their way. Jesus told His disciples to remain eleven times in John 15. I think that says a lot about God’s character. He was on to something. I think Jesus knew how cruel and harsh and unkind the world would be and how unkind we could be to each other. Remember, “It is finished!” Whenever your life begins in brokenness, it is only for a short season. In just a short while, God will refresh us and make us new. The spiritual battle has already been won.
Jesus can and will handle all our questions. His death on the cross and resurrection over the grave unites His love with our forgiveness. We are to extend the same forgiveness if we want to be made new. To be made right. To stand in His presence free of blemish or blame, no matter how scared or fearful we are. We come boldly before Christ and ask for His healing touch for others and ourselves. The same comfort we receive we freely give!
Dear Dream-Giver Jesus, I need your comfort. Sometimes I know when trials are coming and other times I am given no warning. Help me to turn my trials into a lesson on encouraging and comforting others. Thank you for showing me today that it’s not all about me—no matter how painful that may be to hear. I love you, Jesus. Amen.
Question: What does comfort mean to you? How do you like to be comforted?
Friends, it's important to that it's not up to you or me to be perfect. You don't need to strive harder or wave a magic wand. There's no way you could ever earn God's love. You already have it. Through Christ, you are enough. Whether you never dream again, you are already holy. Whole. Let's continue to remind each other to trust God in the waiting. In the silence, He is enough.
If you have already read a portion or the entirety of Dream Devotional, would you do please do me a favor and write a review on Amazon?
I have one review so far, and I'd love to top my all time number of 14 reviews for my first book, Faithbook of Jesus. Once you write a review PLEASE EMAIL ME at renee at reneefisher dot com and you will be immediately be entered to win this amazing necklace I found on The Rusted Chain.
Thanks friends!
I appreciate you.
If you haven't already, download a free copy here, and pass the link along to a friend if he or she is struggling with dreaming big for God!
+ NEW Article: Need a Vacation from Your Broken Life? via Broken But Priceless Ministries.
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