Grieving The Dreams
Making Space For What Never Came to Be
Have you given yourself permission
to grieve the dreams that never came true?
Not passing wishes or half-formed ideas—
but the ones that felt good.
Prayerful.
Even God-given.
Dreams of relationship.
Of family.
Of health.
Of work that would flourish and matter.
Scripture does not rush past this kind of loss.
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.”
(Proverbs 13:12)
The Bible names the ache without shame.
When a deeply held hope is stretched out too long,
the inner life grows weary.
Not because hope was foolish—
but because love was real.
Grief Is Not a Lack of Faith
Grieving a broken dream is not spiritual failure.
It is the honest cost of loving deeply.
If something mattered,
its loss deserves to be mourned.
Lament is not unbelief.
It is faith that refuses to pretend.
Standing at Lazarus’ tomb—
knowing resurrection was moments away—Jesus wept.
He did not correct the sorrow.
He entered it.
God Is Near, Not Disappointed
“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted.”
(Psalm 34:18)
Near—not hurried.
Near—not explaining.
Near—present.
Some of the most faithful people in Scripture
grieved deeply what did not unfold as hoped.
David lamented.
Jeremiah wept.
Paul carried sorrow alongside hope.
And even now, Scripture says,
the Spirit intercedes with groans too deep for words.
(Romans 8:26)
God is not standing across from you in your grief.
He is with you in it.
Where Life Grows Again
The proverb does not end with sickness.
It speaks of a tree of life.
Trees grow slowly.
They take root in hidden places.
They bear fruit in season—not on demand.
The God who knows how to wait
also knows how to restore life—
sometimes in ways gentler, deeper, and truer
than the dream that first formed it.
Not every dream returns in the same shape.
But love is never wasted.
And no tear is unseen.
“You have kept count of my tossings;
put my tears in Your bottle.”
(Psalm 56:8)
Reflection