“Let us not become weary in doing good…” Galatians 6:9
What did you want to be when you grew up? Many of us had dreams of being astronauts, movie stars, doctors or baseball players. What happened to those dreams? Well, the simple answer is… we grew up. Most of us had to adjust or abandon our dreams to the realities of life. We came up against barriers…we couldn’t hit a curve ball or we couldn’t make the grades. These obstacles kept us from fulfilling our dreams and somewhere along the way we just got tired of trying.
Tennyson said, “I would rather have loved and lost at love than to have never loved at all.” I think most people agree with that statement but some of you have loved and lost at love and the losing at love was so devastating that you’re not so sure you want to subject yourself to that possibility again. You’re more than a little gun shy. Shattered dreams can have that effect on us too. There are a few folks who seem to be able to continue dreaming, even though their dreams change or come crashing down, but others of us were scarred by the disappointment or we simply grew comfortable or complacent and just stopped dreaming. Our own pain, doubt, laziness or blindness became the barrier that kept us from ever dreaming again.
I’ve come to realized that when we stop dreaming something dies within us. We cannot allow that to happen. The challenge to dream big dreams for God is a challenge to have a persistent faith, a faith that keeps believing even after being repeatedly knocked down. It’s not uncommon to find obstacles standing in the way of our dreams. It’s the nature of life, but we must never give up. Let us heed the challenge found in Galatians 6:9 “Let us not become weary in doing good.” If we heed that challenge the second part of that verse promises that “… at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” To handle the discouraging times in life you need to understand that our impossibilities are God’s opportunities. God loves to turn crucifixions into resurrections. He loves to turn dead-ends into deliverance. So, don’t quit. Keep believing. Dare to dream again!