All of us have had dreams, wishes, goals and expectations, that, for a variety of reasons, have not materialized. Plans fizzle. Expectations finish unfulfilled. People we trusted let us down or we let ourselves down. Dreams shatter on the jagged rocks of unfair reality.
Has it happened to you?
Plan A comes to a sudden stop, and you're not sure if there even is a Plan B. Perhaps the realization hits you in the form of an illness - a terrifying diagnosis, a sudden descent into the world of hospital beds and IV's. Maybe it involves the abortion of a career you worked to hard to establish and starting over at 50 is way too overwhelming to comprehend from a practical perspective. Or perhaps a financial reversal. Maybe shattered dreams come with divorce papers. You expected to finish life with the partner you married. But your marriage is ending, and you feel numb, hopless and disappointed.
Shattered dreams may have left you wondering if God is still actively involved in your life. You may wonder if He even cares or if you're too broken and brusied for even Him to heal you. You probably wonder quite a bit about what to do next?
But here's what you need to realize: no matter what has happened to you or how you feel, you're not alone. Everyone needs healing. Everyone. Everyone has shattered dreams. Everyone of us has been let down and disappointed in one way or another. Everyone of us needs healing for our brokeness.
Whatever you wanted for your life, you may well have assumed that God wanted it for you as well. You may be unwilling to admit it, even to yourself, but you're pretty sure God was going to sweep down and provide for you as only God could do. The problem is, what you assumed was not necessarily what happened. Nobody ever grew up thinking, "I'm going to get cancer at forty-two." Nobody ever planned, "I'm going to get fired at fifty-three". Nobody ever predicts that they will be divorced at twenty-eight or alone and depressed at thrity-five. Who ever plans for their child to end up in prison at twenty-one?
But it happened and you're frustrated. Or hurt. Or furious. Or all of the above. And let's be honest for a minute. Part of what dredges up such strong emotion is the fact that it feels like all the other people around you are achieving their dreams. Their lives seem so put together. Everyone who lost their job is getting rehired. Everyone else is having kids. Everyone else is financially successful and healthy and happy in their marriage, family and career.
So what do you do with a shattered dream? What do you do with an unfulfilled expectation? What do you do when life isn't turning out the way you thought life was going to turn out?
What do you do when you have to turn to Plan B?
Carefully consider this: if you don't change your beliefs, your life will be the same forever. The reality we wrestle vigorously with is that sometimes-many times-the life of faith can be very disillusioning. Many times the process of "walking by faith" seems more like a cruel bait n switch tactic.
Yet you will seldom if ever hear of anyone's journey of faith that hasn't had a Plan B story - a time in life when a person was going through something completely unexpected. A time when they felt as if God were along, long way away if He even existed at all. The Bible is full of stories about everyday men and women trying to figure out what to do with a life that wasn't turning out the way they expected.
People like you. People who really need hope in the midst of a Plan B.
Are you at a critical crossroads in your life? Trying to answer the "What's next" question or the "Why is this happening" question? You realize something needs to change. You need breakthrough. You need some practical answers. Hope needs to be unlocked.
There is hope. There is life after a shattered dream. After several of them. Scripture is perfectly clear on this both in theory and in reality:
"And the God of all grace, Who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast" [1 Peter 5:10 NIV].
Listen to the The Message version of this verse:
"The suffering won't last forever. It won't be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ - eternal and glorious plans they are - will have you put together and on your feet for good. He get's the last word - yes, He does."
Just because Plan A has come to a sudden stop doesn't mean that God is finished with your life. God has not been caught unawares or by surprise. He already has Plan B in motion. More times than not Plan B turns out to far exceed the treasures we thought we had in Plan A. That's what Job discovered:
"So the Lord blessed Job in the second half of his life even more than in the beginning....Job lived 140 years after that [after his life and family and dreams were unexpectedly shattered to pieces], living to see four generations of his children and grandchildren. Then he died an old man who had lived a long, full life" [Job 42:12, 16-17 NLT].
What do you do when you have to, like Job, turn to Plan B?
- Move past the feelings of crisis, panic, fear, paralysis and overcontrol.
- Don't run. Lean toward God instead of panicking.
- Resist the urge to give up instead of continuing to wait on God to act.
- See God in your circumstances-even when He doesn't seem to be there at all.
- Make peace with doubt, which can actually be an expression of faith.
- Ask the right questions in order to find real, satisfying answers.
- Explore the relationship between shattered dreams and true spiritual transformation.
- Don't isolate yourself away from people and relationships. Find hope through the redemptive power of community.
Despite what your circumstances are telling you, God is for you. He is there. Your dreams may not be happening, and things aren't turning out the way you expected, but that doesn't mean your life is spinning out of control. It just means you're not in control. It is in these moments you can learn to trust the only one Who has ever had control in the first place.
No matter how things may seem, God is still with you. And things will turn around, one way or another. Maybe not the way you planned. Perhaps not the way you assumed God would handle it. Maybe not even the way you hope. But you will see God's hand at work - if not in your circumstances, then certainly in your heart.