Letting Go of a Dream

Have you ever had a dream that you longed to see come true?  A plan. A desire. A direction you thought you were going? I think we all have.

Sometimes that dream comes to fruition.

That is how I feel about my job at America’s Keswick.  I clearly remember attending a conference one summer about 28 years ago, at this place I had never heard of. It was a wonderful, peaceful, beautiful place. When I drove in the entrance there was a palatable sense of the very presence of God.

I recall walking around the lake thinking I’d love to work here.  Fast forward 10 years, I was back for another conference (I’d been to several over the years) when Bill Welte announced they were looking for a woman to develop their new women’s ministry.  Viola – my dream came true – and for at least 2 years I felt like I had to pinch myself to believe it could really be true. I had butterflies in my stomach each morning when I awoke because I was so excited that God opened this door for me.  He blessed me with my dream job.

But then…

There are those dreams, plans, desires, intentions that we have, that never come true.  It is disappointing at the very least.  We were hoping that this dream would come to fruition, but instead it slipped through our fingers like water draining from our hands.  There we stand looking at the puddle on the ground. Gone.

Initially we stand there wishing for a different reality, but it doesn’t come.  When it is clear that the realization of the dream will not be forthcoming, there will come a time to let go. If not, we will be trapped in the continual disappointment of if only, what could have been, or this isn’t the way I thought it would be. (In situations of death and grief, the amount of time it takes is unique to each individual – we all grieve differently, and that’s okay.) Letting go of a dream is difficult, for sure some dreams more than others.

If we just let go of the dream, we will feel empty-handed and empty-hearted.  God doesn’t want us to long for the realization of our dream MORE than we long for more of Him.  He is ready and able, even eager to fill that longing in our hearts with more of Himself.

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

This verse is often misunderstood to mean that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us what WE want, all our dreams will come true.  But I believe if we delight ourselves in Him, He will give us that desire; He will give us more of Himself.  God will give us new desires that are in line with His desires and He will fulfill those dreams for our good and His glory.

So we let go of our dreams so we can reach out and grasp a new dream, a new vision—and we won’t be left empty handed.

I need to preach this to my own heart today.  How about you?

Blessings,

Diane

Written by Diane Hunt: Diane Hunt serves on the board of America’s Keswick and is the Executive Director & CEO of Changed Choices, a Christian non-profit in North Carolina. She is also a biblical counselor and women’s event speaker. For more information about having Diane speak at your next event please contact her at dhunt@americaskeswick.org.