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We admire them. Pull them out to fog a bit of hot breath upon them before dusting them to a fine shine.
We hold them tight. Waiting, counting the minutes, the hours, the days until our dreams come true.
Oh the joy of a dream!
We can't forget about our dreams. We take them down from the shelf every day and have a harder and harder time returning them to the top-most hidden-away corner. But we can't see them back there!
Front and center.
That's better.
Nope, better pull it a little bit closer. Fiddle with the edges, pull the fuzz--if such a thing dare even cling to our dream--shine the front and center. Our reflection is so clear!
We put the dream back on the shelf, this time at eye level, but there it always catches our eye, snagging our attention and soon it's back in our hands, and we're glancing around for a better place to display it.
Before we know it, our dreams have become all-consuming. We are so focused on what our dreams need to succeed, we've forgotten about the Author of our dreams. We've neglected to realize that these dreams we've babied and clung to and worshiped could be taken away within the gulp of a breath.
God gave us those dreams, He can just as easily take them away.
See a dream isn't for us to covet or hoard or worship. A dream is truly a pleasure, yes. It's meant to prompt motivation and excitement, but ultimately they always belong to God. They are never truly ours. He blesses us with our dreams. Inspires us in their beauty.
We can love these dreams. But we must be a good steward of them. Use the "waiting" time, not to covet our dream or what it would be like to take it down and try it on, but to fully practice and learn and grow in who God wants us to become.
Don't steal God's joy. He loves blessing us with our dreams. When our dreams are one with His dreams for our lives, I know He must find joy in blessing us.
God's word tell us He wants the best for His children. So often we forget that the dreams He has given us haven't been birthed in our own imaginations, but been gifted to us for a season.
A glorious season. And someday, in God's timing, we'll be able to share our dream with the world. But until then, don't steal God's joy.
I love this, Casey! Love, love, love! I think sometimes in all the facts or "rules" of my faith or view of God, it gets easy to forget he delights in me, takes joy in me...and that His plan for my life is, yes, to give Him glory but also to fully be the person he created and crafted...and when I'm that person, I'm most alive, most passionate, most purposeful. But I can't be that person if I neglect the dreams He's put on my heart or skew that dream in impatience or trying to hurry it along by my own efforts.
ReplyDeleteGood, good stuff!!
Melissa, I LOVE this comment. Love, love. Your wisdom continually motivates me. I want to spend more time in in. :)
DeleteI know for me with my writing, for the longest time I wanted to hurry that journey along, especially when you start comparing it with other's success. But the success of others does not in anyway measure your journey. Hmmm, sounds like another blog post. ;-)
Beautiful words of wisdom, Casey. It makes me sad how I can take even a good, God-given thing like dreams and make them an idol.
ReplyDeleteOnce I wrote that, I realized what I had even written and yes, our dreams do become idols. What a lesson in humility and trust it is to turn it over!
DeleteWhat a beautiful, eloquent post, Casey. And my heart needed this very badly. Thank you for kicking of my vacation with inspiration and hope in God's joy!
ReplyDeleteI so often need this reminder too, Ang! Hang in there. God's timing is perfect. So much better than ours. See in a little over two months!!!
DeleteBeautiful post, Case! What a great reminder.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you were able to stop by, Lindsay! Thank you. :)
DeleteHappy Friday, dear Casey! This special post brought tears to my eyes. I have been struggling so much with this lately. My eyes have been so focused on what I want now and in the future that they're fixed on dreams, not on the Author or Giver of those dreams. They unintentionally become idols and we unconsciously worship them.
ReplyDeleteProverbs 6:19 is a scripture He keeps reminding me of lately. My prayer is that I will trust God to have His perfect way, believing His grace is sufficient while I wait on Him. I want HIM to be enough, even if not a single dream gets realized, I want Christ to be enough.
Don't know if you've ever head of the Christian band BarlowGirl but they have this beautiful song called "Surrender" that keeps coming to mind and I think you might like it as it ties in very well with your post. I'll leave the link to it below if you get a chance and want to take a listen :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tG7lBZAULE8
Praying you have a beautiful weekend in Jesus, my friend!
Blessings,
Amanda
I love several of Barlow Girl's songs. I'm playing the song now. :) I love what you said about God being sufficient. I think that is so often why He gives us the dreams He does. To teach us we are enough in Him already.
DeleteAlso, I love the name of your post, "Don't Steal God's Joy" - I confess I never thought of it that way. Our tunnel vision and stranglehold on our dreams can sometimes tie His hands. Thank you for sharing what the Lord has put on your heart, Case. I'll never forget that line.
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Amanda
I had the title come to me a couple months ago and God just kept that seed there. It was a great revelation for me!
DeleteLove your heart in this beautiful post, Casey.
ReplyDeleteThank you for coming by, Loree. I'm glad it blessed you.
DeleteLove this post, Casey. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Katie. :)
DeleteCasey - Refreshing reminder of the things the Creator has put in our hearts. Thanks for sharing - lovely.
ReplyDeleteIt was a good reminder for me too, Becky. I so often want to take control of my own dreams and that is when things start falling apart.
Delete