Don't let your dreams die

I'll be honest: sometimes, when I hear statements like "keep your hope alive!" or "don't let your dreams die!" I get irritated.

Maybe it's the person delivering the message: they are usually well off and successful, and I begin comparing my low lights to their high lights. We all know this is no good because comparison is the thief of joy.

Perhaps it's envy. I want to have the hope and success they have, but I know deep down that I will have to work hard to get there. So perhaps it's not necessarily envy, but irritation with the work or "the process."

What's "the process?" Oh, you know, that painful valley of life where you know you're growing but unsure what you're growing into. The "little valley" that can sometimes turn into an annoying hike that will never end. Some call it a dark night of the soul season.

You know, that process.

Maybe it's the cynic in me that wants to call it toxic positivity. The voice that says, "Hope isn't real. That's just an empty statement that people say to fool themselves into feeling good."

Or perhaps the truth is:

I don't have as much hope as I think I do.

Whatever the reason, I'm suspect of these statements and sentiments from time to time. 😃 And I want to tell those people delivering them to shut up.

😆

But, inevitably, something happens to each of us that surprises us as life tends to do.

We begin seeing the thread of our life connecting the big moments - and the small - to bring to fruition hints of what our life and legacy will look like once we're gone.

And friends, this morning, I'm here to breathe on your dreams and tell you to keep hope alive.

Don't let your dreams die.

Some of you have dreams that you think are dreams that aren't the best plans for you in reality. So you may read this article and think, "yeah, Danny, sure. Thanks for bringing up the pain of a dream that died."

I believe that if you feel like your dream has died, that it hasn't died. What has "died" is your glimpse into what you think the goodness of God looks like. I believe it means that God has something better for you.

In other words, the dream He has for you is bigger than the one you can see.

Paul Manwaring once said, "God wastes nothing, and He gets you ready."

Friends, at the risk of sounding like the very cliched person that I judged, I mean, described at the beginning of this article. The one that I would tell to shut up and turn a critical ear and eye at, know this:

God wastes nothing, and He gets you ready.

Stay ready. Get yourself prepared. Get excited. Get your hopes up.

And for God's sake:

Don't let your dreams die.