By David Ryser
If
you ever see a turtle on a fencepost you can know that it didn’t get there by
itself. (Allan Emery)
One of my dreams died today. Although this death is somewhat painful for me, it is
not unexpected. Dreams don’t die all at
once…they can take a long time to die.
And this dream has been on life support for several years. Today it was time to pull the plug.
My dream died quickly and
peacefully in its sleep.
Now, my dream is not the only dream
that has ever died. The Bible is full of
stories about people with God-given hopes, aspirations, and ambitions who have
experienced the death of their dreams.
The story of Joseph is one such
example. Joseph had two dreams through
which God revealed to him that he would rule over his father’s household. Typical of God, He did not reveal to Joseph
the details of the difficulties through which the dream would come to
pass. Before the dreams were fulfilled
in Joseph’s life he was sold into slavery, was falsely accused of sexual
assault, and was imprisoned.
It’s bad enough to be in
prison. It’s even worse to be a slave in
prison.
Finally, Joseph was released from
prison 17 years after he was sold into slavery.
He was promoted to second-in-command over all of Egypt. He was given great wealth and married into a
prominent family. Life was great for
Joseph, especially the first several years of his reign. Many years later Joseph was reunited with his
family, and the dreams God had given to him were fulfilled.
But somewhere along the line,
Joseph had forgotten about the dreams.
It was not until his brothers bowed
down before him that Joseph remembered his dreams. Perhaps over time the dreams faded from
Joseph’s memory…because his life had turned out so differently from what he had
imagined…and Joseph had simply moved on from them to carve out the best life he
could live.
But although Joseph forgot his
dreams, he never forgot the God Who had given them to him.
Moses also had a dream. Although he was brought up as the son of
Pharaoh’s daughter, Moses was raised by his birth mother. He knew who he was and what he was destined
to do. This dream so burned in him that
he killed for it. When things went downhill
after the murder, Moses fled Egypt
and lived his life as a shepherd for the next 40 years. During this time, Moses’ dream…like the dreams
of Joseph...eventually died. When God
appeared to Moses in the desert and resurrected his dream, Moses…unlike
Joseph…remembered the dream God had given to him.
But he no longer wanted it.
So the stories of Joseph and Moses
contain some similarities and some differences.
Both men had God-given dreams.
Both men experienced the death of their dreams over time as their lives
took unexpected turns. Both had moved on
with their lives after the death of their dreams…their lives were not wasted
mourning over their dead dreams. Both
had their dreams resurrected and fulfilled by God in the end, but by then
neither cared. Joseph had forgotten his
dreams, but embraced them when they came to pass. Moses remembered his dream, but tried to
reject it when God breathed new life into it.
And neither man forgot the God who
gave the dreams to them even after their dreams had died.
I have read the stories of people
who have suffered the death of God-given dreams and experienced the joy of
having their dreams resurrected by God and given back to them. I know people who have had the same
experience. Many…if not all…of these
people drew closer to God (although not without wavering at times) through the
process of dying to their dreams.
Through it all they remained…or became…steadfast lovers of Jesus who
compared to the joy of knowing Him did not care about their dreams (whether
forgotten or remembered) by the time God breathed new life into their dreams
and fulfilled them. God is able to
resurrect dead dreams.
Resurrection is a wonderful
thing. But it comes with a price.
You see, there is no resurrection
without death. Resurrection by
definition requires death. Resurrection
is being raised from death to life. In
order to be resurrected, a person must first experience death. For a dream to be resurrected, it must first
die.
There are no shortcuts. There is no Plan B.
So now I sit with a dead
dream. And trust me, I know a dead dream when I see one. I’m not
particularly devastated by this loss because I still have everything that
matters…I still have Jesus. And I have
the rest of my life before me filled with endless possibilities as I
contemplate where to go and what to do from here. I have a great excitement and
expectancy…without expectation…about my future.
And I have not forgotten the God
who gave me the dream that has died.
Does this mean that God will
resurrect my dream and give it back to me?
I don’t know. And I don't care.
Responses to this article are
welcomed. You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com
