I've always loved that melody sung by Jiminy Cricket in "Pinnocchio." "When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are.Anything your heart desires will come to you." Most people know the tune even if they don't know the words. But a part of me has always snorted and sneered when people say, "Dreams do come true." Like Melody Griffith when she won the Oscar for best supporting actress. Man did I roll my eyes. But something about that song lulls me into thinking, "Wellll...maybe..." Although, I think it has more to do with God and less to do with stars, however; stars evoke a heaven-like imagery and perhaps that's what the song writer was getting at.
Repeated heart ache over a period of many years, repeated attempts and failures at any and every thing, repeated loss, repeated disappointment, being stuck in some sort of strange cyclical behavior but being unable to see it or resolve it no matter how hard I tried... all this left me in a pretty negative place. I began to believe that dreams were a silly waist of time. They didn't come true. Not for me. For everyone else? Sure! Then comes the green monster: jealousy. "Your life is so much better, easier, nicer than mine. Why do I have it so hard?"
But here's the juxtaposition: If you believe that dreams can and do come true for others; if you see it happen for them whether you feel jealous of them or happy for them, then you must believe it can happen for you too. It's like saying, I believe in God but not the devil. Can't really have one without the other. Now, how you understand God and the devil, good and evil, that's colored by your life experiences and beliefs. But the overall point is this: It is not possible to believe that dreams come true for others without believing it for yourself. We are ALL connected whether or not we are aware of it because we are ALL God's kids.
There are many things in life that seem tandem and coincidental and there are things that seem to have some sort of purpose to them. Some people believe that there is a purpose or plan to everything. I don't. I have never subscribed to a predestination philosophy. And God never plans for cruel and hateful things to happen as some sort of life lesson. So that "God has a reason for everything" hoo-ha is a bunch of malarkey, to me anyway.
My faith leads me to think more along these lines: Whether things seem cruel and unfair, whether it seems like happenstance or like it was meant to be, and whether it seems that life is full of blessings and grace, the Holy Spirit is there through all of it. God walks with us through all the disappointments and when we are sad and miserable He does not revel in our pain nor does He plan it.
As my marriage was ending, I was lead down a clear path because I chose to turn to God in my hour of need rather than shutting him out in anger and resentment. You see, I'd tried that in the past and it only made things worse. Been there. Done that. Time for a new strategy.
I just kept asking God, "What's next?" Then I'd do what was next whether or not it seemed logical to me. I sometimes did it while shouting at Him and pitching a crying temper tantrum, but I did it with my faith intact. God, I think, expects us to behave like brats sometimes. And when God said "Wait," I did so, (though not without griping!)
And a funny thing happened on the way to learning to trust God through all the muck. My dreams came true. When you fall back on your faith to sustain you in your worst hour, you will find that it will raise you up. And as you raise up to God's loving arms and reach out to Him in your pain, you will begin to see that your view is altered and you begin to see the whole picture from HIS vantage point. Then you see possibility for healing. Then you see possibilities for your life. Then you are able to choose better. Then the path gets a little easier to walk because God's got you by the hand in case you stumble. And eventually...dreams do come true.
Repeated heart ache over a period of many years, repeated attempts and failures at any and every thing, repeated loss, repeated disappointment, being stuck in some sort of strange cyclical behavior but being unable to see it or resolve it no matter how hard I tried... all this left me in a pretty negative place. I began to believe that dreams were a silly waist of time. They didn't come true. Not for me. For everyone else? Sure! Then comes the green monster: jealousy. "Your life is so much better, easier, nicer than mine. Why do I have it so hard?"
But here's the juxtaposition: If you believe that dreams can and do come true for others; if you see it happen for them whether you feel jealous of them or happy for them, then you must believe it can happen for you too. It's like saying, I believe in God but not the devil. Can't really have one without the other. Now, how you understand God and the devil, good and evil, that's colored by your life experiences and beliefs. But the overall point is this: It is not possible to believe that dreams come true for others without believing it for yourself. We are ALL connected whether or not we are aware of it because we are ALL God's kids.
There are many things in life that seem tandem and coincidental and there are things that seem to have some sort of purpose to them. Some people believe that there is a purpose or plan to everything. I don't. I have never subscribed to a predestination philosophy. And God never plans for cruel and hateful things to happen as some sort of life lesson. So that "God has a reason for everything" hoo-ha is a bunch of malarkey, to me anyway.
My faith leads me to think more along these lines: Whether things seem cruel and unfair, whether it seems like happenstance or like it was meant to be, and whether it seems that life is full of blessings and grace, the Holy Spirit is there through all of it. God walks with us through all the disappointments and when we are sad and miserable He does not revel in our pain nor does He plan it.
As my marriage was ending, I was lead down a clear path because I chose to turn to God in my hour of need rather than shutting him out in anger and resentment. You see, I'd tried that in the past and it only made things worse. Been there. Done that. Time for a new strategy.
I just kept asking God, "What's next?" Then I'd do what was next whether or not it seemed logical to me. I sometimes did it while shouting at Him and pitching a crying temper tantrum, but I did it with my faith intact. God, I think, expects us to behave like brats sometimes. And when God said "Wait," I did so, (though not without griping!)
And a funny thing happened on the way to learning to trust God through all the muck. My dreams came true. When you fall back on your faith to sustain you in your worst hour, you will find that it will raise you up. And as you raise up to God's loving arms and reach out to Him in your pain, you will begin to see that your view is altered and you begin to see the whole picture from HIS vantage point. Then you see possibility for healing. Then you see possibilities for your life. Then you are able to choose better. Then the path gets a little easier to walk because God's got you by the hand in case you stumble. And eventually...dreams do come true.
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