Dreams Redeemed Pt 1: Dreams Deferred

Posted by Harmony Dust on Tuesday, October 2, 2012 · 3 Comments 

Dreams Redeemed Pt 1: Dreams Deferred

Harlem

by Langston Hughes

What happens to a dream deferred?

         Does it dry up 

         like a raisin in the sun? 

         Or fester like a sore– 

         And then run? 

         Does it stink like rotten meat? 

         Or crust and sugar over– 

         like a syrupy sweet?

         Maybe it just sags 

         like a heavy load.

         Or does it explode?

In this poem, Langston proposes a question… “What happens to a dream deferred?”

How do we respond in times when our dreams seem out of reach, disappointed, shattered even?

I believe that what happens to the dream, depends on the dreamer.

The way we respond when our own dreams are deferred will determine whether we are propelled closer to the God dream or further from it.

To be honest, I’m in a season of what seems like dreams deferred.

During some of the lowest points of my life, I would go on walks through my neighborhood to an area where there were a number of single-family homes.  Looking at the children’s toys scattered in the yard beyond white-picket fences, and peering through the windows into what looked like healthy, happy, in tact families, I dreamed of a day when I would have a home like that.  I wanted a happy marriage and children…all with the same last name!

My white picket fence dream represented safety and stability—something I didn’t experience much of throughout my childhood.

In 1998, when I first began my relationship with Jesus, I found grace, healing, forgiveness, redemption, and wisdom for my life. But if I am honest, I also thought I had found the perfect formula for the perfect life.  A chance to see the dreams in my heart come true.

I met a guy at church and we began dating.  We did everything by the books. Literally.  We read marriage books, did pre-marital counseling and did everything we could to create the conditions for our dream marriage. For a while life was so good, I was jealous of my own self! J

Several years into marriage, when my husband confessed that he had been having affairs, I felt like every hope I ever had for my life was crushed in an instant.

In the wake of my husband’s confession, I was faced with a decision…

Where was I going to place my hope? Was I going place my hope in the dream? Or was I going to place hope in God?

Desiring the dream more than God, the Giver of Dreams makes the dream an idol.

I couldn’t change the circumstances- as much as I wanted to but I could decide how I was going to respond to them.

I have been on an incredible healing journey with God over the past few years. I have come to learn that He is ultimately the only safe place for my hopes and dreams.

How about you?  Have you experienced the heartache of dreams deferred? Where is your hope today? Is it in the dream?  Or the Redeemer of Dreams Himself?

Love, Harmony