Dead Dreams, Grow!
“Forget dwelling on the former things, the past and its failures, its disappointments and shame. Behold I am doing a new thing!! I am resurrecting it all. I am making beautiful that which was in the ashes of mourning. Look, here it comes to sprout. Do you see it??! Do you perceive the new life? I am making a way in the confusion, the barren wilderness lands. I am making that place, flourish. I am placing a great wide living flowing river right in it. Right in you. Right in your life. Do you see it? Do you see him? Right in the middle of the dead dreams and disappointments. Dead center in the middle of the mourning. Bringing movement, life, refreshment, now, right now, in abundance. The places where you don’t think it will show up. Where you don’t think He will show up. That is where He is. That is where I AM. That is where I promise to be. Do you not perceive it?”
Isaiah 43:18-19 & Isaiah 35 rendition.
Dancer Hannah Anderson of Open Sky Arts Collective (All photos)
Resurrection.
"When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were as those who dreamed." Psalm 126:1
Blessing you with the restoration power of Christ in your life and the resurrection of dreams. For your heart to pound with hope.
Dreams go through death and resurrection.
“Dreams are like seeds.” echoes the lyrical heart of my friend Adrienne Collins.
They die before anything can come from them. And it's true isn't it? Every seed must fall from the tree, be buried, in dirt even, and perish before it can sprout and take root. Sometimes in our lives it feels like this, that all we dreamed of died and got buried somewhere by life, in the dirt of disappointments and failures.
"There is more." a deep seeded truth, planted inside and out, of my friend Ariell Braem.
There is more to the dying dreams or dead ones. They don't stay dead in the ground. They are more than over, they have BEGUN. Winter passes and a new season comes. The season of spring and life does the undone. To begin anew.
“We are His dream.” Adam Cox declares speaking out the heart cry of God.
God had us in mind. He dreamed of having a family. So He created us. With His own hands in the dirt. And His dream died. Then He buried himself to resurrect the dream.
“Jesuuuus!” my friend Anita Beadle always exclaims.
The name above every name. Remember, even Jesus came resurrected with a new name. Christ. Jesus Christ. Calling out for His power in His name over every dead dream seed. And He is faithful to show up. Every time. Again and again. In all the dead places. All the places where we don't expect him to be. That's where He comes to bring light and life. Life abundantly. "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." John 10:10 He isn't the dream killer. He is the dream raiser.
“Get your hopes up.” God whispers to my friend April Kalmar.
Yes it is time friends to get your hopes up. It’s time to see the present and the future in the fullness of life. He came to give life and life abundantly. He promised to give you life again, no matter the depth of the dirt or thick the shell of the seed. No matter how many dreams fell. It’s time to anticipate them coming to life and sprouting. Don’t hold back the enthusiasm. Don’t hold back the excitement. The joy. The eager anticipation.
“We can’t out dream God.” @lotsofawesomepeople and God Himself
No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has imagined what He has in store. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. His ways higher than our ways. (1 Corin 2:9, Isaiah 55:9 mash up.)
In the waiting. A parable of promise for those that wait on the Lord. For those that rest in His finished work. The cross. Who burry their dreams there. Who wait. And wait. And wait. For the sprouting. For the resurrection. Resurrection.
“From one tree comes a forest.” My mantra lately from God and most likely via Duane Feathers.
A favorite of mine. One tree waiting for the seasons coming and going. Seeds fall. They fall. Be paitient and wait. You will be amazed at how faithful He is to bring up a forest from all those dead dreams. Coming to life in Him, in you, and spreading...multiplying to those around you. Be ready to see the resurrection make an impact that is greater than you could ever ask think or imagine according to the power at work in you, the Spirit of the Resurrected Christ.
My friend Hannah Anderson of the Open Sky Arts Collective danced this beautiful dance at the annual Dance in the Park called The Yielding. She spread out dirt on the floor to set the stage. She sat before it's row and opened the dance, reaching her precious seed to the sky…
Dream dreamers. Dream once more. Dream dreamers, declare the open doors. Dream dreamers dare to dream and hope for…
Resurrection.