It’s Too Late and I’m Too Tired to Dream

How to dream when you don’t feel like dreaming anymore.

This is how I feel right now. A new year is here, people are moving and shaking, and I just can’t. I know my dream, and I know the nervous excitement that comes with taking dream steps, the gratitude that follows walking out dreams, and the joy that comes from seeing the fruit of living a bold dream. I also know the frustration that comes from repeated setbacks, the disappointment of floundering, and the paralysis that can stop dreams when life throws us curves. After many conversations, I also know that I’m not the only one whose get-up-and-go ran off and left.

To the woman whose dreams have been postponed, bruised, or crushed – it’s never too late and your dream is never too damaged. To the woman who’s tired of pushing and running hard: rest, your dreams will not disappear. Finally, to the woman whose desire to dream seems to have seeped out of the cracks of her broken heart: you are not alone, and your dream is far from over.

If you can relate to any of the women I described, join me on a journey toward those dreams. How? There are three things in the beautiful words of the psalmist above that I think will help us.

Seek the Lord and his strength. This is a twofer. Whether we have dream-fatigue, dream-paralysis, or a completely absent dream, we should seek God. Read His word, pray often and honest. Confess our doubts and wrongs, and share our frustrations. Then, avoid powering through, and learn to rely on His strength.

Remember the wonders He has done. The difficulties of this season are easily visible, and our short-sightedness is an inaccurate representation of the work of God in our lives. Look back to yesterday, last month, last year, and notice God’s goodness. Take time to rest in that goodness. In my darkest times I start my prayers with the words “God, you are good.” Max Lucado encouraged this in his book, Before Amen, as a way to focus on who God is and not our problems. It works.

Identify as His chosen one. We like to label ourselves. Sometimes it’s based on roles, such as single, wife, mother, or professional. Other times the label is a description like successful, artistic, fit, beautiful, or smart. When we put stock in these labels, we can fall far and fast when the bottom drops out of a particular market. In the fall, we give ourselves labels like failure, unemployed, incapable, depressed, and unattractive. Friend, none of these define us. We are each chosen, loved, and treasured as His daughters, and sometimes we have to allow God to remind us of who we really are.

There is no quick fix for broken dreams, no easy way to get back on track. There is, however, power in the word of God. There is also power in a woman who allows God to build and rebuild her dreams, with His strength, for her good, and to His glory.

Ready or not, here we come.

Reflection

Write down your current frustrations or struggles with your dream.
Reflect on the wonders God has done in your life. List a few here.
Pray a prayer of gratitude and acknowledgment for the wonders you listed and then give God your dream struggles and ask Him to carry the weight of those struggles for you. Note how you feel after that prayer.

Goals

Talk to a trusted friend or mentor about your dreams. Work with them to develop 2-3 steps you can take to walk back toward your dream with the Lord:

Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his face always. Remember the wondrous works he has done, his wonders, and the judgements he has pronounced, you offspring of Abraham his servant, Jacob’s descendants - his chosen ones. (Psalm 105:4-6 CSB)