Dead Hopes

Scripture

But we had been hoping that He was to be the liberator of Israel.

~Luke 24:21, REB

Quote

When the LORD closes one door, He often opens another that leads to something much greater.

~Lloyd C. Douglas

It was God who created us with the capacity to dream and dream we do. There is nothing wrong with being a dreamer; Joseph was a dreamer and so was Walt Disney. Don’t make light of the dreams of others. One of my grandsons dreams of playing for Auburn and he may do it. I’m not the one who is going to rain on his parade. That being said, we do have to face reality and the great majority of our dreams do not come true. Thousand of patents are are filed in Washington D.C. every year. In 1926 they had a sale of 150,000 old patents that never materialized; things that folks invented that just never made it by the law of supply and demand. One man invented a tube that you attach to a face mask and run to your feet. It was designed to keep your feet warm at night from your hot breath. It never caught on. I think socks were probably the problem and then later, the electric blanket. Think of it, 150,000 shattered dreams and dead hopes.

But don’t forget that God has a different definition for dead. What’s dead to us isn’t necessarily dead to Him. The disciples on the road to Emmaus thought their dream was dead. Matter of fact, they felt sure their dream was dead. Of course the resurrection changed their minds and hearts. Their hope was never dead; it simply appeared to be dead. God can resurrect hope where there seems to be no hope. The prodigal son was a dreamer and unfortunately his dreams revolved around himself and his vanity. He saw his dreams shattered. Instead of becoming independently wealthy, he became dependently poor; reduced to the state of begging. He went an attached himself to a rich farmer who sent him to take care of the pigs. He didn’t get hired, he was begging. But praise God, he came to his senses: he remembered his father and decided to go to him for a job. How did that work out for him? It was a dream come true. Trust me, that kid was pinching himself every time he took a bite of steak. This was far more than he ever imagined.

Bless the LORD O my soul…When He shatters our old vain and earthly dreams, He gives us something far better. To think that I wanted to be an NFL Quarterback: I despise the NFL and I love to preach, more than you can imagine. I have to go next week and get an injection in my right knee: had I played in the NFL, it would be the right knee, left knee, the elbow, the wrist, the neck, the back, the foot and there would be a possibility that I would not know my name from concussions received from being too slow to out run 350 pound black defensive lineman who despise white QB’s. Do you know any 70 year old quarterbacks in their prime? Thank You LORD for shattering that dream.

Wow, great day…Weather was perfect. Thank YOU Jesus! Some of you are looking forward to a trip this weekend, I’m just looking forward to a holiday, an excuse to do nothing. I have to warn you: once LABOR DAY comes and goes, the year is practically over. Time flies from LABOR DAY to Christmas. Matter of fact, it is just 3 months and 26 days until CHRISTMAS. It goes by so fast that I start listening to Christmas music in September.

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