When Your Dream Becomes a Disappointment: 5 Ways to Hold on to Hope in the New Year
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photo by cary bates on unsplash
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
2020 is just a few days away, and I'm excited! The New Year always feels like a fresh start--a chance to dream big, make plans, and push forward in goals. But I know it can also be a tough time. Maybe from where you're sitting, the future doesn't look so bright and beautiful. Maybe you're facing fears about what's to come or disappointment about what didn't happen in this past year.
If that's the case, I want to share my new article that was just published on The Joyful Life Magazine's blog. You can read the first bit below, then click the link below to continue to their site to read the rest. I hope you find it encouraging and that your hope is buoyed.
As always, I'd love to hear what’s happening in your life and any way I can pray for you.
❤️ With love and affection,
Holding on to Hope in the Midst of Disappointed Dreams
One of my favorite New Year rituals is unwrapping a brand new planner. I’m an old-school paper gal, and I relish running my hands over the smooth, creamy, blank pages—pages empty of inked-in appointments, yet so full of potential. Like the celebratory fireworks of New Year’s Eve, my heart sparks with excitement over all my goals and anticipated opportunities.
As exhilarating as the start of a new year is, it can also carry bittersweet undertones. Alongside my hopes for the future are the ghosts of New Years’ past—the dreams and goals that haven’t yet come to be. Acknowledging that another year has slipped by without their fulfillment can be painful. When faced with this disappointing reality, I’ve been tempted to give up on my big dreams and settle for the security of a smaller story. Why keep trying? I’ve wondered. Why keep hoping?
AN IMPOSSIBLE DREAM
As I reflect on the birth of Jesus, I’m reminded of someone who I suspect felt similarly.
Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, surely knew the sting of passing years. As a priest and an elderly Israelite, he’d been waiting his whole life for the Messiah. And he’d been waiting for something else too—a son of his own. At the advent of each year, I imagine he wondered, Maybe this is the year the Messiah will come. Perhaps this is the year I’ll have a son.
I’d like to think that Zechariah never gave up expecting the Messiah, though it’s clear at some point he abandoned his dream for a child. Eroded by the strain of time, his youthful expectations gradually faded to resignation.
Until one day, while performing his priestly duties, the angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah. Gabriel proclaimed, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John” (Luke 1:13).
Despite the magnificence of the messenger, Zechariah found this hard to believe. His response? “How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years” (Luke 1:18). The Living Bible translates Zechariah’s reply this way: “But this is impossible!”
Judging by his reaction, I’m guessing that the prayer for a child was one Zechariah hadn’t prayed for a long time. Too much time had passed without an answer. Year after year, Zechariah’s prayers echoed back from Heaven, seemingly as fruitless as Elizabeth’s barren womb. Even with an angel standing before him, Zechariah believed it was too late for his dream to come true.
But, as Zechariah soon found out, nothing is impossible with God...
Click here to read the rest, including 5 things you can do to hold on to hope while waiting on God's promises.
Blessings and Happy New Year!
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I want to hear from you!
How are you feeling at the start of this new year? What do you find most helpful for holding on to hope when there’s a gap between your dream and it’s fulfillment? I'd love to hear about it in the comments below!
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P.S.
I wrote this post because I’m on a mission to encourage and equip women to live the life of faith, passion, and purpose that we were made for. You can help make a difference by sharing this post with a friend (or friends!) who you think would be encouraged or inspired by it. Thanks!
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...Is it time to say goodbye to something in your life? Leaving can be hard because it can feel like losing—and sometimes it does come with a loss.
But so often what we let go of is vastly outweighed by what we gain when we open our hands in trust...