Sometimes You Have to Let Go Of A Dream To Get The Promise

How many times have we expected God to answer a prayer in a certain way and in a certain time? I know we can all say it has happened at least once in our life possibly more times? This past month has been difficult for me. I have faced a huge disappointment and wanted to be angry about it. I know the Lord promised us He would provide for us but I just placed my dreams on God and was angry when He didn't fulfill them. His promise and my dreams or expectations are completely different things. Some times we can line our dreams up with the Lords promises but I jumped the gun and just assumed they were one and the same.

I had three dreams (these being actually night visions) this past week that just moved me to pray in earnest for the Lord's interpretation. I started to get some of the interpretation early this past week but didn't like the direction it was going so I stopped listening and praying. I know it sounds so shallow but it is the truth. I couldn't believe God would be telling me my dream isn't lining up with His promise. No! I believed my dream was His promise. So He sent me two more dreams. Actually sitting here thinking about it the Holy Spirit just revealed to me that each of my dreams this past week had to do with this issue. They were each very different but now I can see the common thread. Isn't it silly and sad how each night before I went to bed I asked God to speak to me at night in my dreams and then when I woke up I just shrugged it off as pizza or the devil. Surely that wasn't God! Oh how wrong I was.

I realized late Sunday afternoon after a dream had been crushed that I was holding onto His promise to me but only allowing Him to answer His promise through the way I wanted it answered. I had a dream (or ideal I should say not a night vision kind of thing) how it would come to pass. Was it wrong? No, I don't think God was saying my way was wrong it just wasn't His way. In the end I submitted to Him my hopes, expectations and dreams. I replaced my hope back in knowing Christ is Lord of my life and not in my promise from the Lord. I gave Him my expectations and laid hold of His ways. It took a long hard battle to be at peace. How long ago could I have given this over to Him and had this same peace months ago? But as the Lord shows me time and time again at least I learn so much in these wrestling matches and I don't go back there again. I learn my lesson well. :)

So are there things in your life you know are a promise from the Father but are waiting on Him to answer it through your expectations and dreams? We hinder Him so much by placing our own ideas of how He should work in our life. Sometimes I believe we actually cause the promise to be delayed because of this very thing. Let me give you example by sharing with you one of my dreams...

"My three boys and I were eating dinner in our dinning room. A friend comes up to our house and drops off a box. She is in a hurry and rushed. The box is for a new Flat screen TV. I notice right away the box is mangled even though I know it's new. We are all excited. The boys rush over to open it up. Inside is not a flat screen TV but an old fashion TV. We are all very sad and disappointed. My husband comes home and he sees the TV and loves it and is so excited."

The Lord shared this with me, "The dinner table is where we pray the most for this promise of ours. Our friend who dropped off the box had delivered once before an opportunity that the Lord was trying to show us how He was going to answer our prayers. It wasn't what we were specifically praying for but I believe now it was the Lord speaking to us. The box was new. It was God's promise being fulfilled but it was mangled because our prayers were mangling the Lord's answer. We were praying and standing for His promise but only praying and interceding by how we thought the Lord should answer it. It was literally inhibiting what the Lord could do. He is not an invasive God and will not usurp our will. He wants us to come along side of Him. We mangled the box. I believe that we saw this old fashion TV because our eyes were blinded. I believe it really contained the real thing in their but our expectations blinded us to His answer. My husband could see it because he actually has felt this and been praying this for some time now. My boys were being influenced by my pain and expectations."

Does that all make sense? The other dreams were very different in nature but had the same thread running through each of them. At one point in the dream I saw my self damaging our marriage. What I thought was the Lord warning me about the enemy attacking our marriage was the Lord revealing how my expectations and hopes were coming between even my husband and I. I was also allowing this to get in the way of my relationship with the Lord.

Yes, I have issues. :) Thankfully the Lord is faithful to deal with them with me. So now I am back on track and walking with the Lord and not pushing against Him. Just to let you in on a little secret it is a lot easier to walk with Him then push against Him. We are seeing things really fall into place now that things are straightened out. Sometimes you will have to let go of your dreams to allow the Lord to fulfill His promises to you. It is hard and hurts a little but all worth it in the end when you know how much His promise means to you and how much He loves you.