“It can take years to mold a dream.  It can take only a fraction of a second for it to be shattered.” – Mary E. Pearson

“Shattered dreams are the mosaics we lay on our pathway to success.” – Neil Sutton

“Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light.” – Helen Keller

My personal experience with shattered dreams fits Mary Pearson’s statement above to a tee.  It was a dream that started as a little boy – one that took lots of determination, hard work, and effort.  The thing I remember doing a lot during that time was mentally forcing myself to maintain this constant, futuristic vision of what it would look like when the dream became reality – simply to preserve my sanity as I kept plugging away – doing the hard, messy, necessary work along the pathway toward making the dream come to fruition.

There were so many personal sacrifices – so many choices made to avert temporary happiness – all to attain this future goal that was decades in the making.  I gave up so many precious life moments in the present, worked a difficult, stressful job I never enjoyed, missed out on spending quality time with my girls as they grew up – all to build this future life that was filled with freedom and security for me and my family.

All it took was five spoken words one November evening – “I don’t love you anymore” – and all the decades of work and sacrifice were shattered into a thousand pieces within seconds.

I couldn’t wrap my mind around the loss. The hardest thing to face was all the time spent, quality years of my life that were wasted to attain this dream that was now lying in pieces on the floor – in pieces so small, they would be impossible to put back together again.

It made dreaming of a new future seem futile.  I didn’t know if I could take another shattered dream – if I could survive it.

My story isn’t unique.  We ALL have shattered dreams.  In fact, shattered dreams are something we all share in common as human beings.

There is no such thing as a perfect life.  There are no perfect childhoods, perfect careers, or perfect marriages.  We cannot attain perfect health, perfect wealth, or perfect happiness.  We can never remain in a dream state our entire life.  A sustained utopia isn’t feasible in a troubled, imperfect world.

Why should we dream at all then? 

It seems as if most fall far short of our expectations and come with problems we never anticipated.  For those dreams that are realized, most seem short lived at best.

The more I think of it, I don’t believe the problem lies in dreaming.  It lies in what we dream about, the value we place on those dreams, and the paradigms we have surrounding our shattered dreams.

WHAT WE DREAM

Like I mentioned earlier, what we dream about is generally driven by our feelings and emotions.  Seldom do we give any thought to them FIRST – thinking deeper about their impact and significance.

To some extent, my own dreams were filled with self-indulgence and self-gratification.  What we dream about shouldn’t be tainted or influenced by the world, but filled with a deeper purpose, a greater destiny, and a lasting legacy.  My dreams were far from that.  They centered on meeting my own needs and desires – not on the bigger picture of why we are here – to make this world a better place for us all.

Walt Disney said it best.  “FIRST, think.  SECOND, dream.”

When you think about your dreams and goals, are they centered in goodness and driven by Godly principles?  Would seeing them come to fruition cause others to be hurt or harmed in any way?  Are they self-indulgent or self-gratifying?  Can you see how dreams formulated on such a shaky foundation are destined to shatter – especially in a fallen world?

THE VALUE WE PLACE ON THEM

Let’s say we meet the “thinking” test above – that our dreams are well thought out – centered in goodness and the welfare of others – driven by good intentions and principles.

What kind of value do you place on them?  Do you hold on to them tightly – fearful they might not come to pass?

My dreams meant everything to me!  Life just wouldn’t have been worth it had they not been realized.  I gave no consideration to failure, no concern about whether or not God approved of them, and absolutely didn’t want to think about any alternatives or options.

When they shattered, I shattered because of the value I placed on them.

The Bible says, “Look here, you people who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year.  We will do business there and make a profit.’  How do you know what will happen tomorrow?  For your life is like a morning fog – it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.  What you ought to say is, ‘If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.’  Otherwise, you will be boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil.” –  James 4: 13-16 NLT

When we embrace the mindset that James suggests above, any shattered dreams are seen through the lens of a God who is actively involved in the process.  We may set the course for a well-thought-out dream filled with good intentions, but if God sees things differently and alters our direction, we quickly and willfully change – knowing our loving God knows best.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart.  Lean not on your own understanding.  In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path.” – Proverbs 3: 5-6 NIV

Do you place an extreme value on reaching a particular dream or do you allow God to move you in the direction He desires?  Can you rest and trust in God’s providence when your dreams are shattered?

OUR PARADIGMS SURROUND SHATTERED DREAMS

It is so difficult in the moments that surround a shattered dream – when you are staring at all the broken pieces right in front of you.  But in those moments, you need to believe that those broken pieces will be purposefully used by God to create a beautiful mosaic – one that outshines and outlasts your original dream in ways you can’t begin to fathom.

When I look back at my original dream, its fruition would have palled in comparison to what God has done in my life since.  I would be an entirely different person – less compassionate, less resilient, and far less at peace.  His grace has changed me in so many wonderful ways – allowing me to see Him differently and to share that difference with you now 😊

God will use the severed relationship, the business loss, and the unplanned illness to create something beautiful in your life my friend.  You may only see broken pieces everywhere right now, but just wait 😊 

Those pieces will create a beautiful mosaic to your success – as Neil Sutton shares above.  Have faith, as Helen Keller suggests, that God will use the shattered dream to move you to the light – to the purposeful, destined place you need to be – pushing you toward the personal legacy you are here to fulfill.

I hope tonight you give thought to your dreams, the value you place on them, and how quickly they can shatter in this world. 

When they inevitable do, trust what our sovereign God is creating within your life!

God bless you always!