In this season, God is inviting people on a journey of letting go of the past and stepping into the new. Let God into your process, let Him into your grief, and let Him into your dreams. He is also reawakening dreams, shifting dreams, and giving out new dreams to His children. Come to His presence and find the God dream for your season. This is a season to dream the impossible dream and pick up the God-sized dream, for He is fulfilling them.
Grieve the Life You Thought You'd Have
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." (Matthew 5:4 NKJV)
Right around the time I (Katelyn) turned thirty, I was miserable. Nothing in my life looked like I expected it to look. I had stepped out in obedience, and everything had gone wrong. To me, it seemed I had fully gone backwards in the opposite direction of everything God had spoken to me. I felt disillusioned, disappointed, angry, and like I had fully "missed it."
As I sat with the Lord, He took me on a process of grieving. I began to grieve my disappointments. And I also grieved the lives I would never have, some of which felt serious and some of which felt kind of silly. I grieved the promises that hadn't yet come to pass. I grieved the fact that I would never be a young mom. I would never be a twenty-something newlywed. I would never make it on the Forbes 30 Under 30 List. I would never be a famous child actor. (Like I said, some of these were quite silly.) I grieved that I didn't have an incredible career yet. (At the time, I didn't have any career, just a series of odd, disjointed jobs.) But this journey of letting go of all of the "should'ves," "would'ves," and "could'ves" became pivotal in getting me to where I am today.
I realized I had attached my self-worth to all of these societal milestones. My identity was so wrapped up in becoming something great, doing something important, or having a beautiful love story that I lost sight of what God was speaking over me in that moment. At many points along my journey, I have had to grieve all of the "shoulds" and disappointed expectations and get really, really honest with God.
Most of us have had moments like these in life, where we look around and go, "Did I sign up for this? Who have I become? Do I want my life? I really thought life would look different by now." Maybe you're single when you've been dreaming of marriage. Maybe you're a burned out, exhausted mom. Maybe you're going through a divorce when you thought "I do" would mean forever. Maybe you're stuck in a job you hate. Maybe you're an empty nester who's feeling a loss of purpose now that the kids are gone. Or maybe you've just realized that you're living out of alignment with who God has called you to be.
Rather than avoiding those feelings or wallowing in shame, bring them to the Lord. Invite Him into your places of pain and disappointment. Scripture says that Jesus was "acquainted with grief." He wants to meet you in your process. And as you process with Him, He will bring fresh healing to your heart. It's impossible to step fully into the new while you're clinging to the old. Often, letting go looks like grieving with God. (Photo via PickPik)
Let God Transform Your Dream
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5–6 NIV)
Because I went on this journey with God, the 30th birthday I dreaded became insanely liberating for me. I realized that because I'd already "missed" the milestones I thought I needed (I wasn't married, I didn't have kids, I had no exciting career—or money, for that matter); because I'd already missed society's perfect timeline (which is all imaginary, anyway), then I was going to live without it! And from there, I began to dream again with God. This is how I picked up the courage to go back to school at thirty-one, to find a new career at thirty-six, and to move to a new city and start over.
After you've grieved and let go of what "could have been," there's a process God takes you on of allowing your dreams to change and morph. What you wanted at fourteen or twenty will likely look different from what you want at thirty, forty, or fifty. There is a maturing that comes, and dreams are allowed to change. They're supposed to change. Moreover, as you spend time in the presence of God, He will begin transforming your dreams. Therefore, give Him permission to do what He wants with you. Don't simply dream in the framework of what makes sense. Dream a God-sized dream, and allow Him to do what He wants inside of you.
For me, going back to school felt so silly... and yet God was all over it. When you're at rock bottom, you stop caring about looking foolish and become so much more willing to take risks. For most of us, it's easy to dream about what's safe and seems possible. However, if your dreams are something you can accomplish on your own, they're too small. God may give you a dream that's too big for you, because He wants to develop you into someone who can carry that dream and carry His heart. If you have felt disillusioned or lacking faith, come back to His presence. Let go of the childish version of your dreams and pick up the God version, which is so much bigger than you. Surrender what you thought your life would look like, and allow Him free reign in your life. Allow Him to transform you and transform your dreams.
Dead Dreams Resurrected
"He asked me, 'Son of man, can these bones live?'
"I said, 'Sovereign Lord, You alone know.'
"Then He said to me, 'Prophesy to these bones and say to them, "Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord."'" (Ezekiel 37:3–6 NIV)
For many of you, you once had specific dreams that burned in your hearts. But the pain and disappointment of life have caused those dreams to die or stagnate. Now, those dreams feel like a pile of dry bones—lifeless, empty, and impossible. There are businesses, families, marriages, and creative dreams that have ended up in the grave due to discouragement and life stressors.
Why do dreams die?
• Life challenges,
• The need to be "practical," "make money," or "take care of the kids,"
• The dream seems impossible,
• "That's for someone else other than me; it's too hard; I don't know how, etc.,"
• You pursued it and failed, so you no longer feel hope to continue trying.
These are just a few of the reasons dreams die. But just because a dream seems dead right now doesn't mean that it cannot come back to life. We serve the God of resurrection power, and right now He is resurrecting dead dreams. In Scripture we see, time and time again, how God makes the impossible possible. Therefore, do not look only to circumstances, but look to Him. Many of the dreams coming back to life are creative dreams. For many, letting the dream die was a necessary part of the process, a pivotal piece of surrender. (Photo via Pixabay)
If you are experiencing dead dreams, pick up hope again. Come back to the foot of the cross, and allow God to breathe life back into you and into the desires of your heart. It is sometimes painful to allow God into a place of deferred hope or into a dream that has died. Just as when a limb has gone numb, it can sometimes be uncomfortable when feeling returns. The feeling of pins and needles as blood starts flowing again is a positive sign; it's a sign of life. In the same way, emotions coming up are a sign of life for you.
Then, get around people who are doing the things you want to do! Get around people who believe anything is possible. Cultivate your imagination and allow yourself to dream outside the box. Cultivate a list of things you would love to do and experience. Don't worry about whether your dreams are practical. Simply start dreaming.
Dream the Impossible Dream
"With God all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26 NIV)
Now that you've started to dream, know that dreaming isn't simply about what's practical or pragmatic. Dreaming is about partnering with God and what He wants to do on the earth. And when we partner with Him, we almost always say "yes" to something bigger than ourselves.
You see, God doesn't give you "you-sized" dreams; He gives "God-sized" dreams. So, if in the process of dreaming you keep coming up against "Well, that feels way too big for me," GOOD. This means that you're accessing God's dreams, which are supposed to be too big for you.
Instead of shutting down things that seem impossible, lean into them. Ask the Holy Spirit questions. Ask God for His answers, His creativity, His solutions, and His dreams. Via the Holy Spirit, you have access to all the resources of Heaven in order to accomplish His purposes on the earth. In addition, God-sized dreams are often about cultivating you into someone who can carry a God-sized dream. This means growing, maturing, and being willing to embrace challenges. God is raising up a people of tenacity and perseverance. Therefore, if God is calling you to pick up an impossible dream, it will come with training and testing to equip you and mold you into a person of character and of faith. Embrace it all.
It's time to lean into His heart and look at His face. Step into the unknown after Him. For God loves to turn impossible dreams into dreams fulfilled.
Declarations:
1. I invite the Lord into my places of pain and disappointment.
2. The Lord is restoring back to me what the locust has eaten.
3. God is redeeming my dreams.
4. I believe in the God of impossible dreams.
5. I am surrendering my plans and dreams to the Lord.
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Katelyn Alexander
The Crowning Jewels
Website:Â www.thecrowningjewels.com
Email:Â hello@thecrowningjewels.com
Katelyn Alexander is a masterful teacher and coach with a passion for seeing people walk in the wholeness of who God created them to be. An actor, writer, and storyteller, Katelyn blends creativity and charisma with a solid foundation on the Word of God. Katelyn first worked with Anne and The Crowning Jewels in 2015 and now blogs, writes, and teaches for TCJ.
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Anne Jackson
The Crowning Jewels
Website:Â www.thecrowningjewels.com
Email:hello@thecrowningjewels.com
Texas-born Anne Jackson worked as a nurse for seventeen years before fully embracing her creative nature. Having grown up believing that God only spoke through the Bible, her life was transformed with the personal knowledge that He still speaks today. As she experienced a revelation of God's love for her and the power of words to transform and heal, she began designing jewelry, partnering with the Holy Spirit to create a tangible way to bring Heaven to Earth. This is where her prophetic jewelry company, The Crowning Jewels, was birthed. Many people recognize her company as a business-ministry hybrid. She is known as a prophetic visionary with the drive to accomplish her dreams. Her mandate is to champion others as they discover their God given identity and fulfill their divine purpose. After living in Redding, CA for ten years, she recently moved back home and currently resides in Texas.
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