Past Dreams and a Future Secure

It was a tough year. I’m currently writing this from quarantine on my 30th birthday after getting COVID a few days ago, with Christmas and birthday plans now postponed. And really, this has been the mildest of issues I’ve dealt with this year.

But I know so many of you who are struggling with so many things it breaks my heart. Sickness. Loss. Work burnout. Cancellations. Dreams postponed or past. We know life keeps chugging forward whether we want it to or not. 

How do we keep our heads above water when we’ve been treading for so long? When a well meaning “hang in there” doesn’t cut it anymore? When our problem isn’t just a hope deferred, but a dream gone that we can’t get back?

Maybe your season is past. What you hoped for probably won’t happen anymore: marriage, kids, a career you thought you’d have by now, the health you assumed would be yours for a lot longer, or a relationship that fell apart past the point of mending.

How do you move forward when it’s not what you want, and you know you’re not likely to ever get that thing you want?

1. Acknowledge the past, but know there is no going back.

I love a good time travel story, but at least as we currently understand the laws of nature, we can’t go back. We can’t relive the good days or fix the bad ones. We must face each new day as the Lord brings it. Remember the good God has done for you in the past, and that the future always holds hope. Recall how God rescued his people from their enemies and brought them out of slavery in Egypt. He can rescue you too. He will make a way.

This is what the Lord says—
    he who made a way through the sea,
    a path through the mighty waters,
who drew out the chariots and horses,
    the army and reinforcements together,
and they lay there, never to rise again,
    extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:
“Forget the former things;
    do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
    Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
    and streams in the wasteland.
Isaiah 43:16, 18-19

2. Surrender Control

We thought we had control all along, but if we’ve learned anything from COVID times, it’s that we never did. All of life is grace. God gave us good things in the past and can bless you with good things in the future that you still had nothing to do with. He can gift you with something you never saw coming or dared to even dream of.

Teach us to number our days,
    that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Relent, Lord! How long will it be?
    Have compassion on your servants.
Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
    that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
    for as many years as we have seen trouble.
May your deeds be shown to your servants,
    your splendor to their children.
May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us;
    establish the work of our hands for us—
    yes, establish the work of our hands.
Psalm 90:12-17

3. Make Eternity Matter

You may have dreams that will never come true on this side of heaven, but then there’s heaven! Society inspires or thrills us with ideas of “you only live once” while urging us to make every minute count. But if this life was all we had, I’d be pretty miserable thinking about all the things I missed out on or should have done with my one life. 

But Christians shouldn’t have FOMO (fear of missing out) because we’ve got all of eternity on a perfectly new heaven and earth. We don’t know what that practically looks like, but I like to imagine all of the beautiful places on this planet that I will never get to see in this lifetime but will get to in the next. I like to believe that God loved his created earth enough that he will restore it to what Eden was meant to be. 

Didn’t get that dream of a spouse, children, job, happy life? It won’t matter in heaven. So focus on what will. Steward well what you do have and bring the people you love with you. This life still has purpose after you become a Christian and your salvation is sure. We are living on grace that we must tell others about, so that they can believe in their Savior too. We live by faith, knowing what we see is not all there is.

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.
Hebrews 11:13

4. You haven’t missed what’s meant for you

God has good plans for you. You can’t mess it up or miss it. Sure we have free will, sin, and have to live with the consequences of our actions. But I find such peace in knowing that God is bigger than me. If he wants something for me, he will make it happen, even despite me. 

He delivered the Israelites despite their complaining. He blessed King David as a man after God’s own heart despite his womanizing, murder, and lies. He grew the early church through a former Christian killer, Saul. God will mold you for what is meant specifically for you. 

No matter if your dream is past its expiration date, if 2020 and 2021 felt like a blur of nothing but bad news, if you can’t currently see a hopeful future- God is here. He’s not going anywhere. 

Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” 
Exodus 14:14