Shattered Dreams

1. God's highest blessing is an intimate encounter with Himself, not worldly happiness.

The highest dream we could ever dream, the wish that if granted would make us happier than any other blessing, is to know God, to actually experience Him.

Divine desire. God's deepest longing is to bless us, and His greatest blessing is an intimate encounter with Himself. This isn't just a theological concept; it's the ultimate source of human happiness, far surpassing any earthly comfort or success. We are created for this profound connection, yet often remain unaware of this central longing of our hearts.

Misplaced desires. We frequently mistake lesser pleasures for this ultimate joy, chasing after "lower dreams" like perfect marriages, talented children, financial stability, or rewarding careers. While these are good things, they are not the best things. Our foolishness lies in believing these lower dreams are the pinnacle of happiness, rather than a direct, intimate experience with God.

New Covenant reality. In the "new way" (New Covenant), God is no longer remote but present and available. Jesus' sacrifice opened the way for us to feel God's embrace. The greatest blessing is not merely a good life, but an encounter with God Himself, a reality that has always been true but is now fully accessible.

2. Shattered dreams are God's essential tool to awaken our deepest desire for Him.

Our shattered dreams are never random. They are always a piece in a larger puzzle, a chapter in a larger story.

Divine strategy. When our cherished "lower dreams" shatter, God allows us to hurt, not out of indifference, but to help us see more clearly. This suffering is a necessary mile on the long journey to joy, an opportunity to discover a desire for God that not only survives pain but thrives in it, becoming more intense than our desire for anything else.

Unveiling true appetite. We are often out of touch with our deepest appetite for God, mistaking lesser pleasures for the greatest. The Holy Spirit uses the pain of shattered dreams to awaken this dormant desire, helping us to begin dreaming the highest dream—to know God. These broken moments are not accidents of fate but ordained opportunities for spiritual awakening.

Purposeful pain. Suffering, though tragic, is never only a tragedy for the Christian. It serves a redemptive purpose, moving us away from demanding what's merely "good" (worldly comforts) towards desiring what's "better" (an encounter with God), until heaven provides what's "best" (His full presence without pain).

3. Our pursuit of immediate "good times" often reduces God to a means, not the ultimate end.

As long as our purpose is to have a good time, to have soul-pleasure exceed soul-pain, God becomes merely a means to an end, an object to be used, never a subject rightfully demanding a response, never a lover to be enjoyed.

Utilitarian worship. Many Christians approach God with an underlying assumption: life is meant to provide a "good time," and God's role is to ensure this, either through good circumstances or good feelings. This mindset turns worship into a cunning strategy to get what we want, rather than a passionate abandonment to God as the object of our deepest desire.

False strategies. We invent "biblical" strategies for parenting, spiritual living, and financial stewardship, all designed to make our dreams come true and provide a legitimately good time. However, these often mask a deeper motive: to feel now what is only promised in heaven—a compelling pleasure that eliminates all pain.

Disillusionment's root. When God doesn't deliver the "good time" we expect, we feel betrayed and disillusioned. He may neither reverse tragedy nor fill us with peace and joy. This happens because we've made soul-pleasure our primary aim, rather than glorifying God by desiring Him above all else.

4. True hope flourishes by embracing pain, not avoiding it, to discover God's unseen work.

Shattered dreams open the door to better dreams, dreams that we do not properly value until the dreams that we improperly value are destroyed.

Beyond superficiality. When dreams shatter, our immediate impulse is to "handle the pain" by numbing it, staying busy, or seeking distractions. However, this approach prevents us from honestly confronting our feelings towards God and discovering a hope that transcends circumstances. A hope that is truly available to everyone, regardless of their situation, must thrive when dreams shatter, not just when they come true.

God's hidden movement. The journey through despair to joy often begins unseen. God is working behind the scenes, even when we perceive only darkness. This "rhythm of hope" is marked by subtle signs, like Naomi's return to Bethlehem "as the barley harvest was beginning," signaling that dawn is on its way, even if she can't see it yet.

The deliverer's love. Deliverance from despair often comes through a person, a "sovereign coincidence" orchestrated by God. Just as Ruth "happened" to glean in Boaz's field, God uses individuals to bring about His purposes. This process reveals that deliverance is rooted in love, as the deliverer eagerly prepares to bless, unable to rest until joy is brought forth.

5. Jesus' path to joy deepens our desires for God, contrasting with Buddha's aim to deaden them.

Deaden pain. That’s Buddha’s way. It eliminates all hope of joy. Deepen desire. That’s the way of Jesus.

Two paths to suffering. Buddha teaches that suffering arises from desire, and the way to end suffering is to end desire, leading to a state of nirvana. Many Christians unknowingly adopt this approach, trying to deaden their desires for worldly things to achieve "contentment" or "deep trust," often pretending to feel peace when they feel a void.

Jesus' radical call. Jesus, however, calls us not to deaden desire, but to deepen it—specifically, our desire for God. He doesn't tell us to feel less pain, but to hurt openly in His presence and in safe community. This intense suffering, when embraced, becomes an opportunity to discover a desire for God that no brokenness can eliminate, a passion that transcends all others without weakening them.

The fruit of brokenness. By refusing to deaden our pain, we keep alive our capacity to desire something more. This brokenness, the awareness of our inability to be who we long to be without divine help, is crucial. It's in this raw, honest state that we discover our true appetite for God, an appetite that, when satisfied, liberates us to love well and experience profound joy.

6. God's apparent "unresponsiveness" is His restrained passion, working for a greater purpose.

It’s more difficult for Christ to restrain Himself from making all our dreams come true than for us to watch them shatter.

The mystery of restraint. When God seems most absent or unresponsive, especially when we're in deep pain, He is often doing His most important work. He could fix everything, but He holds back, not out of indifference, but out of a "restrained passion" for us. This restraint is a sacred mystery, designed to deepen our desire for His presence and purge our preoccupation with lesser things.

Solid ground. The "solid ground" beneath the pain of shattered dreams is the revelation of Christ's intense passion for us. Believing that Jesus' pain is worse than ours in our moments of suffering, and that He is holding back for reasons we cannot fully understand, allows us to rest. This understanding prevents us from dismissing Him as uncaring or cringing before Him as a ruthless despot.

Boaz as a parable. The story of Boaz and Ruth serves as a parable for God's restrained passion. Boaz, desiring Ruth, withheld himself due to a legal technicality, demonstrating his honorable love and commitment to an unshakable foundation. Similarly, Jesus, our Heavenly Bridegroom, is consumed with desire for us, preparing a place, and His temporary "absence" is part of a plan to bring us into a legal, eternal union with Him.

7. Brokenness exposes our self-reliance and addiction to lesser pleasures, leading to true abandonment.

Only shattered dreams help us feel appropriately impotent.

The "flesh" revealed. When life goes wrong and we feel bad, our natural inclination (the "flesh") is to seek relief and make ourselves feel better, often turning to lesser pleasures or self-reliant efforts. This attitude, which insists on our happiness as the highest good, is the biggest obstacle to enjoying God's presence. Shattered dreams, however, powerfully expose this arrogance and our commitment to happiness, making us feel appropriately impotent.

A shift in prayer. Initially, we pray for God to fix our circumstances or emotions. When He doesn't, we may shift to fatalism or demand that He make us feel better. But true brokenness leads to a deeper prayer: "God, whoever You are, whatever You do, that is all I want. I demand nothing. I will wait for You." This abandonment to His pleasure, rather than our own, is the way of the Spirit.

Freedom to fly. Brokenness is the experience where the pain of life destroys our confidence in our ability to make life work and exposes our demand to feel good as intolerable arrogance. It's then that the "chain falls off our leg and the heavy ball rolls away," allowing us to "fly." This difficult blessing helps us hate our self-centered attitude enough to give it up, opening us to God's joy.

8. The "on her lap" experience symbolizes finding profound joy in God's sovereign, unfolding story.

Then Naomi took the child, laid him in her lap and cared for him.

Beyond personal loss. Naomi's story culminates with her holding her grandson, Obed, on her lap. Despite her shattered dreams—no husband, no sons—this act signifies a profound shift. It's not a return to her old happiness, but the fulfillment of a higher dream: participating in God's sovereign plan, a story far grander than her personal losses.

Biblical echoes. The phrase "on her lap" appears in Genesis, linking Naomi's experience to:

• Rachel's longing: Desiring to be part of God's story but trying to control it.
• Jacob's vision: Seeing his highest dream realized in God's continued work through generations.
• Joseph's hope: Realizing his death was a chapter in a story that would end well, trusting God's promises for the future.
  Naomi, like Jacob and Joseph, finds contentment and joy in God's ongoing redemptive narrative.

Contentment in God's plan. Naomi's final state is one of quiet joy, aware of God's presence and movement, even as her pain continues. She is transformed from a bitter, depressed woman to one content and grateful, anchored in hope. This "on her lap" moment represents her embrace of God's larger purpose, finding joy not in the absence of pain, but in her participation in His eternal story.

9. An encounter with God, community, and transformation is the highest dream, available now.

Encounter, community, transformation: There is no higher dream.

The revolution's core. The ultimate dream for every human soul is a deep encounter with God, leading to authentic community with others and profound personal transformation into Christlikeness. This vision is the heart of the "new way" of the Spirit, a revolution in the church that moves beyond shallow faith and self-centered pursuits.

Spirit-led journey. This journey is not about escaping hell or merely living a "fulfilled" life now, but about knowing Jesus as the most wonderful person, our truest friend. The Spirit's central passion is to awaken our appetite for Christ and reveal Him to us, empowering us to draw near to God and love others well, all for His glory.

Beyond superficiality. Many Christians settle for "godliness" without truly seeking God, mistaking external adherence or emotional highs for genuine encounter. This "nuttiness" stems from unbelief that knowing God could provide the ultimate joy. The revolution calls for a community of broken people, united by hunger for God, experiencing the safety of the gospel, and delighting in God's presence.

10. Understanding God's holiness and our inherent arrogance is the gateway to true grace and joy.

But when arrogant people who know they deserve eternal misery tremble before a holy God of passionate wrath, they discover grace.

The true nature of God. Our modern Christian culture often dilutes God's holiness and passionate wrath, reducing Him to a "fatherly God of strict standards" or even a "helpful God of useful principles." This "cheap grace" prevents us from truly trembling before His absolute holiness, which is essential for understanding the depth of His grace.

The true nature of self. Similarly, we often soften our understanding of personal sin, seeing ourselves as "scoldably selfish" or "understandable strugglers" rather than "arrogant people who deserve eternal misery." This self-deception prevents us from recognizing the profound need for Jesus' atoning blood and the magnitude of God's mercy.

The encounter of grace. When we, as arrogant people deserving eternal misery, truly tremble before a holy God of passionate wrath, we then discover grace in its purest form. We encounter God's kindness and love, not as something earned, but as an undeserved, breathtaking gift. This encounter leads to genuine worship, a hunger for God, and a transformation that reorients our desires from self-centered pleasure to His glory.