18th August 2025
Our hopes and dreams
Now that you have welcomed the Anointed One, Jesus the Lord, into your lives, continue to journey with Him and allow Him to shape your lives. Let your roots grow down deeply in Him, and let Him build you up on a firm foundation…
Colossians 2:6-7 (The Voice)
Have you ever been asked to explain what you expect to accomplish in your life? As a teenager my dreams were very simple, getting married, having a boy and a girl, a pool in the backyard, and living a life of bliss. Even those simple plans can come undone. Some people have lofty dreams, and dive into a long educational plan, internships, and graduate studies. Have you noticed how college students often change their career plans once or even twice during the first year of study? Even now in my old age I wish I had entered the medical field, but that was not in the plans.
As I aged my dreams and hopes changed, but God was now foremost in my plans. I wanted to please him, and I still do. I wanted to do everything right and perfect, but that was harder than I thought. In fact, I found out that I was not alone in this quandary. God was constantly pointing out that I was thinking of heading in the wrong direction. I am not complaining because this is true love. God cares about us and wants us to draw near to him, and to trust in him. How frustrated we become in our journey to follow Christ and to please God. The voice we hear in our heads though, the ones that condemn us and tell us we will never be able to please God, is not God’s voice at all, but the evil one’s.
The whole time I have been trying to earn God’s attention; he has been listening. On my own, my hopes and dreams seem so far away and out of my reach and ability. If I pay attention to God’s words here, I find it is not a journey I have to make alone, but one I take with Jesus. I do not have to get myself in shape before he loves me, Jesus helps me get in shape and his love is already there. I allow him to do the work within me and give me that hand to hold, that support I need.
You may wonder how you move forward in the journey and are rooted at the same time. Unlike a tree that is stationary all its life, we move forward as we root ourselves deep in Jesus. We stay close to him, as he is in us, and we are in him. I am secure in him and at peace. It is when I disconnect trying to make my own way that I feel that frustration and fear of failure. I can in Christ, because he can and will be there for me, as he is there for you.
A tree is where it stands by chance or the planting of mankind. The seed falls or is carried by the wind to its place, but the tree cannot change its environment, it relies on whatever comes its way. We on the other hand can choose life, when we choose to welcome Jesus into our lives. We choose to journey with him, allowing him to shape our life in him. Choose life, let Jesus build you up with that firm foundation only found in his presence, and his making.
Prayer
Merciful God, you are always the answer to my hopes and dreams. You are all that we need, and you are so willing to walk this earth with us. You have proved your love for us in so many ways and have stayed with us tenaciously. You have brought us to your side every time we have strayed. There is no other God but you, and we are filled and complete in your love. In Jesus we praise your name! Amen.
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Study by: Anne Gillam About the author: |
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