Look Up: 35 Days to Finding Hope in Dark PlacesSample

The Pit of Broken Dreams

Have you ever had such a clear picture of the future that it gave you butterflies in your stomach? You find the dream home and make a great offer. You and your spouse decide you want to try to have a child. The job interview goes really well and you feel like the new position is a done deal. Whatever the situation, you begin to picture what your life will be like once that dream becomes reality.

But then, something happens. You’re outbid on the home. The pregnancy test comes back negative, again. The job falls through. In an instant, the butterflies turn to battery acid and the excitement turns to sadness. Broken dreams are debilitating, sinking our feet in quicksand. Shattered expectations can make us want to give up on not only our current dreams but on ever daring to dream again.

Joseph can relate. He dreamed of greatness, yet found himself bloodied at the bottom of a cistern, thrown there by his own brothers. Undoubtedly, Joseph had some time to think while he was down there, staring up at a pinhole of blue sky above him. Based on what we see in his life after he gets out of the pit, the decision that Joseph made while he was in the pit is apparent.

In the midst of broken dreams, he chose to look up and persevere. He worked hard, he respected his leaders, he lived honorably, and he told the truth. This wasn’t always easy, but his decision paid off when one day he was able to save the whole region, including his own estranged family.

Today, we have a lot to learn from Joseph. Broken dreams are inevitable, but our response is up to us. We can choose to look up and persevere, believing that the dreams God has placed in our hearts will come to pass regardless of what it may look like at the moment.