What do you do when your dreams get crushed?

“His Olympics are over!”  This is the phrase I heard the announcer shout as I watched yet another athlete crash to the track after tripping over a hurdle.  My stomach is in knots for this complete stranger.  The dream he has worked towards for a lifetime has just been crushed in the dust. 

This experience of watching someone’s dreams get crushed while seeing other’s dreams come true has been a recurring theme over the past two weeks of my marathon Olympic TV binge!  It has left me pondering the question, “What do you do when your dreams are crushed?”

I just recently connected with a couple of old friends and after ordering our steaks and some small talk, we found ourselves deep in intimate conversation.  I know that the words intimate conversation sound scary and unusual for men, but somehow it happened! 

Are stories were all strangely similar.  Crushed Dreams!  Even though we were all in unique life circumstances, we expressed familiar emotions: Bitterness, Confusion, Disappointment, Impatience and Frustration.  Another thing we had in common was that we found ourselves mad at God. 

We thought that we were pursuing dreams that He had put in our hearts, why had He seemingly let us down? 

“What do you do when your dreams are crushed?”  When this happens, I think the biggest temptation is to stop dreaming.  But the danger is that I believe when we stop dreaming we start dying!  Maybe when one dream is crushed, it’s simply time to find a new dream.  I know that sounds easier said then done!

We talked about the biblical stories of David and Joseph who had experienced dreams getting crushed on a much more dramatic level than what we were experiencing.  Their stories helped us somewhat but seemed distant and unconnected from our lives.

I think what was the most therapeutic for all of us was to sit at a table and share our stories over a “Mountain O’ Nachos.”  What better way to deal with disappointment than Food, Faith, and Family?

A scripture that has deeply encouraged me but at moments frustrated me is “He who trusts in Jesus will never be disappointed.” (Romans 10:11 NASB)  These words sound good until we feel the bitterness of disappointment.   “Wait, what is happening?”  “How could this happen?”  “I thought I was doing the right thing.”  “I thought I was doing what God wanted.” 

It all depends on our definition of disappointment.  If disappointment is when circumstances don’t work out the way we had hoped and dreamed, then we will continually experience this whether we are a Christian or not. 

In Romans 10:11 Paul is quoting Isaiah 28:16 which states 

“The one who maintains his faith will not panic.”       

I believe that faith in God will keep us in the purposes of God.

I wish that being in the purposes of God always meant smooth sailing, but sadly it doesn’t.   

God shows us how to deal with disappointment.  Don’t Panic. Hold tightly to Faith.

If all else fails share your stories of disappointment with close friends over a Mountain O’ Nachos!