What shattered dreams are part of your story?
We all have dreams of how we think life should be. We envision finding a life partner who will love us, take care of us, share our life with and growing old together. Creating memories with loved ones that bring us joy and happiness. We have expectations of what our marriage should look like and turn out. In our mind we paint pictures of hearing little footsteps running through our home calling us mom and dad. We have aspirations for how our career should end up. Hopes of financial security in our old age. We anticipate a healthy life.
In the Bible we meet Naomi, a woman whose dreams were shattered.
7 Reflections from Naomi’s life:
- Dreams can shatter
Ruth 1:1,3,5 (AMP) “In the days when the judges governed [Israel], there was a famine in the land [of Canaan]. And a certain man of Bethlehem in Judah went to live temporarily in the country of Moab with his wife and his two sons. Then Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left [a widow] with her two sons and then both Mahlon and Chilion also died, so the woman [Naomi] was left without her two sons and her husband.”
Naomi’s grief was the buildup of years of disappointments, setbacks and losses. Naomi’s dreams of a provided life and happy family were shattered by tragedies. She is left with nothing, but grief, and the prospect of an uncertain future.
What shattered dreams are part of your story?
- It is okay to be not okay
When sadness begins to swallow up our dreams we may be honest and acknowledge our feelings. Naomi cried out in Ruth 1:13 (AMP) “the Lord’s hand has gone against me.”
Naomi did not sugarcoat her bitterness. Returning home and encountering the women from her village, she lamented in Ruth 1:20-21 (AMP) “Do not call me Naomi (sweetness); call me Mara (bitter), for the Almighty has caused me great grief and bitterness. I left full [with a husband and two sons], but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, since the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has afflicted me?”
None knows the weight of another’s burden.
George Herbert (1593–1633)
It is okay to grieve a shattered dream. However, we need to surrender our expectations and pain to God and give Him the opportunity to heal us. We should relinquish our idea of how life should be to a Father who cares and loves us. Psalms 34:18 (TPT) “The Lord is close to all whose hearts are crushed by pain, and he is always ready to restore the repentant one.” You may ask ‘should Christians not trust God in every situation and give Him glory no matter what?’ We should, but we hurt too.
In Luke 17:32 (NIV) Jesus warns us “Remember Lot’s wife!” It’s okay to grieve what was lost, but holding on to the past, looking back, longing for what was or could have been, is not. We need to surrender the past into God’s loving hands and let go. We have to move forward with God’s help to the new future He is establishing.
- God will make a way when there seems to be no way
God paved an unexpected path into a new, yet different, life for Naomi. God is the author of our life story. If Naomi had held the pen writing her story, it would have ended as a tragedy. In her mind her story was over.
Despite her despair, God used Naomi’s suffering to lead her to a new beginning. Ruth, her daughter-in-law demonstrated unwavering love and loyalty, choosing to stay with her when she returned to Bethlehem. Through Ruth God gave Naomi a new future. This is how Boaz summarised it when answering a question from Ruth, Ruth 2:11 (AMP) “I have been made fully aware of everything that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband, and how you have left your father and mother and the land of your birth, and have come to a people that you did not know before.”
Isaiah 43:19 (NLT) is a powerful message of hope and new beginnings, “For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” The Bible urges us to move beyond the past and embrace the future, knowing God is at work.
It is not over until God says it is over.
- Find hope through faith and trust
Ruth 3:1-2 (AMP) “Then Naomi her mother-in-law said to Ruth, “My daughter, shall I not look for security and a home for you, so that it may be well with you? Now Boaz, with whose maids you were [working], is he not our relative?”
Naomi experienced immense loss, leading her to mourn and even become bitter. However, she didn’t succumb to despair, but instead, she put her trust and hope in God and guided Ruth to find a new life.
There is power in resilience when things don’t turn out as we hoped.
Naomi’s story shows that even when we don’t know how things turn out, we can trust God’s promises, His Word and His providence. Although God did not mitigate Naomi’s immediate troubles in miraculous ways. He restored and redeemed her through the laws He had established long ago. Her story is a powerful illustration of how God can use even the most painful experiences to reveal His faithfulness and lead us to a new beginning.
Trust God.
- God provides and restore
Ruth 4:14-15 (AMP) “Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed is the Lord who has not left you without a redeemer (grandson, as heir) today, and may his name become famous in Israel. May he also be to you one who restores life and sustains your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.”
Naomi’s story demonstrates God’s ability to work even in the most difficult circumstances, turning her bitterness into joy and her loss into blessing. Through Ruth and Boaz, she found a new family and a future she never dreamed of. God restored the years the locust has eaten (Joel 2:25). All that Naomi previously believed lost was restored. She was back in the land of her birth and had a home to live in. She would be cared for in her old age. She once again had a family.
Like Naomi, no matter how bleak life seems now, we too will look back and be surprised to see where and how God was working all along. We can find reassurance that God works all things together for good (Romans 8:28). If we will allow God, He can use shattered dreams to release better dreams for those He loves and who trusts Him.
- God’s power redeems
Ruth 4:17 (AMP) “The neighbour women gave him a name, saying, a son (grandson) has been born to Naomi. They named him Obed (worshiper). He is the father of Jesse, the father of David [the ancestor of Jesus Christ].”
Naomi’s story serves as a powerful reminder of God’s ability to redeem even our deepest sorrows. The story of Naomi culminates in the lineage of Jesus Christ, demonstrating God’s ultimate plan of redemption for all of humanity.
We need to surrender our dreams and vision of how life would be to God, so that we can embrace His vision for our life. We need to expect that, even in the midst of our shattered dreams, God’s plan can bring an even greater future than we could ever imagine. Surrender requires us to let go, to choose believe and act ‘as if’. As if God is who He says He is. As if we are who God says we are. As if He is always at work on our behalf.
There is a God in heaven who overrules all things for the best; and this is the comfort of my soul.
David Brainerd (1718–1747)
- Joy will come again
Naomi did, again, find joy. No matter our loss or heartache God will not leave us alone. He is right there with us in the midst of our pain. He will bring us through in His time and His perfect way.
As believers we never have reason to despair. We can choose, instead, to trust in God and His love for us. And when we do, joy and the peace that passes all understanding is ours, even before God changes our circumstances. And besides that, God promises us a better day. Psalms 30:5 (TPT) “I’ve learned that his anger lasts for a moment, but his loving favour lasts a lifetime! We may weep through the night, but at daybreak it will turn into shouts of ecstatic joy.”
Joy will come in the morning!
I surrender
Shattered dreams will be redeemed. But getting there is a process. We must work through honest feelings before we can see the God who redeems even the most devastating shattered dream.
We cannot control life, but we can be rooted in the God who is all powerful. Life of true surrender means we open our hands to God and give up what we hold in them. Then we wait on the Lord to step in. What steps do we take to do that? There are no steps. We just surrender. And then we sit tight. God has us.
Changed and unwanted circumstances are more than inconveniences in life. They are tools in God’s hand. A way for His glory to be displayed in a way that will take our breath away.
A surrendered life is the secret to a blessed and joy filled life. Psalms 16:11 (TPT) says “Because of you, I know the path of life, as I taste the fullness of joy in your presence. At your right side I experience divine pleasures forevermore!”
We can learn from Naomi that we are never left without hope. As His children God is always with us. As we surrender, He can work through our loss and grief to bring about His bigger purposes. Both for us and for the world. Purposes that we could not possibly imagine during the uncertain times of our suffering and grief.
Prayer: Father God, I give up. I surrender my need for control. I surrender control over my life to You. All of it. All the time. I place my trust in Your goodness and faithfulness. In Jesus name, Amen.
