Dare To Dream Again!!

                                                           
                                           Dare To Dream Again!!! 

                            Hope deferred, makes the heart grow sick (Psalms 13:12)
         Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and He shall direct thy paths (Proverbs 3: 5-6)

Have you ever been afraid? afraid to dream? afraid to hope? afraid of having expectations?  Well, welcome to a world that I know, all too well! I'm talking about a world where it seems that whenever you dream or believe God for something, it just fails right in the middle of what you thought was a perfect "faith!"  I'm talking about, when you are trusting him for something that you KNOW is good for you; that you KNOW you will give God the glory for, yet it falls to pieces as if it was just a worthless dream! Talk about a shake in your foundation! this will definitely do it! 
There have been times in my life when it seemed as if deferred hopes and dreams were a way of life for me.  I have felt the pain and frustration of dreams crumbling, and expectations just vanishing into thin air. I mean, why would God give me a heart to dream and then sabotage the very dream that He gave me? Why should I continue to dream? Why should I, continue to hope? Why should I continue to trust? Does this sound familiar? .....I have been at the point of hopelessness! Times when it seemed, as if God was playing my life like a great game of chess, or had cast me into a wonderful play, just to close the curtain on the best performance of my life!
Listen, God knows when we reach these points of frustration. He even knows that His way of orchestrating our lives will at many times seem as if he is totally disconnected with our hopes and dreams. Why would he kill my dreams, dash my hopes, and dismantle my expectations? (expectations that I thought I had in HIM!).  God has shown me that allowing failure, is a method that He uses in order to bring us to a place of "relinquishing".  When I think of relinquishing something, I picture myself, having to let go of something for the sake of allowing someone else to control it! WOW! Is he testing my ability to relinquish my rights to something, in order to get me to a higher level of trust? A higher level of faith? Is He grooming my ability to except an exchange of what I want for what HE wants for me? 
Many times, as part of God's will for our lives, He will allow failure and disappointment to occur, when what we have envisioned for ourselves is not quite, in line with what His thoughts for us are. You see, God is like a parent; He will dash hopes and disturb dreams if HE feels that they are not good enough for us! And although they may seem good for us! Sometimes, they just won't lead us to the place that he has commissioned us to go.  He refuses to allow you to settle for "that" house when the one he wants you to have has everything that you ever wanted!!!! He refuses to allow you to marry "that" person, when he knows that who He has for you, really has not entered into your life yet!!! And you thought it was the enemy? Sometimes it's God, wanting you to dream bigger! To believe bigger! And to trust bigger! 
God is saying to some of you right now, "I had to kill some of those dreams; some of those hopes, because they came from your "own" hearts, that are limited in understanding the fullness of what I have for you! I needed to build within you, a stronger faith in what I have purposed for your life. One who will say, "though you slay me, yet will I trust you!!!" There will be times in your life, when I will call on you to relinquish something and still expect you to stand there; because I need for you to know how to keep your eyes on me  even when everything else seems to be moving; and everything else seems to be crumbling down! I want your eyes to remain on me, when they tell you no! I want your eyes to remain on me, when that dream drifts away! keep your eyes on me, when that hope is fading away; because I want you to see that when everything else and everyone else fails....that is the "one" thing that I cannot do! Trust in me, for I cannot fail; Only I can give you hopes and dreams that will become your reality! Trade your deferred hopes in, for HOPE in me and DARE TO DREAM AGAIN!!!!

Prayer for Today:
Dear Lord, thank you for deferring the dreams that I have had for the dreams that you have for me! Thank you for showing me how to trust your methods of parenting, knowing that in the end, you will have raised a strong and mighty force that the cares of this world cannot blow down! My eyes are on you Lord at all times! I have traded in the dreams of my limitations, and  have replaced them with new expectations in you!! Praise your Holy Name!!! I will dare to dream again!