God is not only the God of your buried dreams. He’s also the God of surprises.
Whether you’re writer, a reader, a parent, a grandparent, a single, a spouse, or a senior–I hope you’ll find a piece of encouragement in this short post that will lift you up. At the end of the blog, I’ll explain the picture from my garden that inspired it.
The God of Your Buried Dreams
by
Rebecca Barlow Jordan
“I’m here! I’m here!”
We cry for a voice that begs to be heard,
a light in the world’s winter darkness.
Is anyone there? Does no one hear?
And we struggle to bury our fear.
We dig, and we plant, and we cut, and we watch
for a sign that there’s more still to come.
Black turns to bleak, but still we hold on
to a hope that will not say, “I’m done!”
And the seasons pass by, pushing dreams further down,
leaving hearts, barren and brown.
“I’m here! I’m here!” But our words fade away,
lost in a sky filled with gray.
Too many voices, too many days
of effort, wasted in vain.
No one hears; no one cares; something ventured, nothing gained.
“Give it up!” Then we look out, amazed.
“Don’t fear! I’m here! I’ve always been near!
Surprise is My specialty!
You’ll reap what I planted deep in the soil
of your heart. Soon you will see.”
And we silence our voice to hear His, once again:
“I’m here–in your joy and your pain…”
We smile as we see God’s surprise peeking through—
“Dreams grow better when drenched by the rain.”
Inspired by My Garden
I walked out to my garden recently and found a sweet surprise. We’ve had soaring temperatures for several weeks now, and only a few sprinkles of moisture. My perennials needed the nourishment only a long drink of heaven’s pitcher could pour out.
Guess what! Yesterday it rained–hard! I “planted” the “Love” hanger in my garden (see the picture above) one spring, along with numerous perennial flowers. The garden is beginning to show signs of fading as Fall covets its own voice of “I’m here!”
But the plant behind the “Love” grew up unannounced–and not planted by me (unless a squirrel thought it was an acorn and buried it there.) It looks like an iris or other bulb flower that seems to have pushed through the brown earth overnight. A fun surprise!
Isn’t it just like God to take our buried dreams and replant His own, tailor made surprises–just when we need them the most? I don’t know about you, but it was a message I needed to hear today. I pray it spoke to you as well!
We’ll never comprehend all the great things he does; his miracle-surprises can’t be counted (Job 9:10, MSG).
My Personal Prayer for You
God, You truly are the God of our buried hopes and dreams. Thank You for nurturing and planting Your own love in our hearts, and for Your unending faithfulness. I love Your surprises, Lord! Touch those today who need to know You’re always there; You always care; and that You long to encourage them in their joys or in their pain, with the comforting words only You can speak.
Day-votedly Yours,
Rebecca
*I first posted this blog in 2012.
What About You?
What does this poem or picture say to you? How Has God surprised you lately?
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