The Death of Dreams

Oh the pain that rages within.....

Lord, here we are, again. Why do I struggle with this so much?
Is it because once again, I have had to watch a dream die, or, am I just mad at You for not allowing me to have it my way? Frankly, I am pretty sure it is a mixture of both to be quite honest. Thankfully, I, at least, have reached the point in my walk as a Christian to understand I can feel these things, and You are big enough to handle them, and big enough to take me to the woodshed of correction.

So what is the real root of the problem here? In a nutshell, it is me, myself, and I.
I had a dream. I have more dreams.
I have plans, big plans. I want what I want!! Why can't you get on board God?
Woe is me, I have seen the enemy, and she lives within me. I am frustrated because 'I' did not get 'my' way. The reality of the sin of my attitude comes rushing in to condem me, and I hear that still, small voice say, 'Not my will, but Yours."
Yes, Lord, but, but, but.
There is no room in the Christians life for 'but'. Just who do we think we are? Did 'we' send our sinless Son into the world to die for the sins for the whole of mankind? The answer is an emphatic NO! This can mean He is the only one who has the right to have the whole of life laid out for us, with plans and opportunities for us, not only to draw near to Him for salvation, but by repetitive training, grow us more like His Son day by day. THAT is the plan.

Our plan has not one whit of merit in the grand scheme of things. Our plans must die, we must lay down our dreams and pick up His for us. This is where the sweet peace of resting in Him truly comes from. When we can reach the point of saying with a humble heart, 'Yes, Lord' and mean it, we then are set free from the striving for our own way.

So there it is, this life is not my own to do with what I want, I am not in control, I am not God. This life is not my plan, it is HIS. Therein lies the real truth of the matter, which is, if I am not God, then He certainly is, and His plan for my life is without a doubt perfect in His design, even when it doesn't meet 'my' own plans.

What dream has died today for you, or for me? Is it not true that they are dreams of what 'could have been', as well as dreams of 'what could be'. How are you and I going to handle this? We can become bitter, which will utterly destroy our relationship with Christ and with others, or we can agree with the Psalmist. "Thou, O LORD, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth." Ps. 86:15
Did you catch that? He is a God of compassion, being quite aware of our hurts when dreams die.
He knows your heart, as well as mine. The Psalmist goes on to say, "O LORD, how great are YOUR works! Your thoughts are very deep. A senseless man does not know, nor does a fool understand this." Ps. 92:5-6.
Dr. Adrian Rogers used to say, "God chooses for you what you would choose for yourself, if you had sense enough to choose it."What truth!
The Psalmist confirms this, we are senseless and foolish, in that we cannot know the bulk of history, nor our unique place in it, for Gods glory.
Today, though my heart is hurting, I can rest in the knowledge that even in my pitiful state of not knowing, nor understanding, God DOES know, HE DOES understand, and HE is God....I am not.

The Condemned Woman

Today I saw a video of the woman condemned, and the thought struck me that the one thing that Jesus did for her was to settle in her mind the reality of her freedom.

Do you realize what a profound victory we have over the lies of the enemy? In talking with others recently, I have realized that we carry 'lies' within us, and I believe these lies are some of what Jesus Christ was setting this condemned woman free from! What lies had men told her about herself, and for how long even? Jesus says we are women set free!!

Today I am embracing anew my 'freedom' in Christ from the whispers of the enemy. My every breath is of freedom, my every step is in freedom, my choices in how I spend my time speak of freedom, my every bite should be taken in FREEDOM! I am not judged, I am loved.
So are you, SO ARE YOU!

As I watched this woman tenatively reach out for His feet, I see myself. I approach with guilt, shame and more, but yet, just as He reached out for her hand to pull her UPRIGHT, He is still doing this and will do it for us! We are not meant to be 'dust-dwellers' for Jesus says, "Behold I have made all things new." We are 'upright' in His eyes, without blemish, without fault, without guilt.
Beloved ones, the whispers of lies of the enemy are Gone! We have new ears, and they should never ever hear the voice of the enemy again! Our ears should only always hear the voice of the One who set us FREE!
This is the WAY, walk in it! Do you realize we simply cannot walk if we are dwelling in the dust? We have to be upright to walk!!
The point here is this, He does the work of making us upright, we have to do the work of walking in Him! He made a choice, now we have to make one as well.
Glory to God, I am free, I am free, I am free....WE ARE FREE!
We can dance today like the healed lame man, we are healed and we are free!