When Dreams Die

Go and tell my servant David, “Thus says the Lord: It is not you who will build me a house to dwell in.” 1 Chronicles 17:4

Suffering from nostalgia, I experience some grief when almost anything ends. I love to visit childhood haunts and I tell my poor family the same stories over and over. I remember feeling a deep sense of loss on the last day of the third grade, as I knew I would never be a third-grader again. That moment was gone forever.

As drugs numb the senses though, I grew apathetic in my addiction. In my recovery, the nostalgia of past innocence and grief over my behavior returned and threatened to overwhelm me. What have I done? Life will never be the same. My dream of the nice, perfect life is gone forever.

King David too, knew the sting of shattered hopes, as his dream to build a temple for God came to an abrupt end. David took his plan to the prophet Nathan and received confirmation initially. That night though, God spoke to Nathan, telling him that it would be David’s son, not David, who would build the temple.

God told David that He did not require a temple and reminded David that he was to find his purpose and meaning in God alone, not in any building. God had always been with him – temple or no temple – and that was enough. We aren’t told that David grieved his broken dream, but rather, he submitted to God and found his joy simply in His love and presence.

I know the loss of never being a third-grader again is silly, but I learned something that day that stuck with me. No matter what comes and goes in life, God is with me. No matter what, I will always have the one thing that matters most.

This world will put us through horrible trials and will shatter our dreams, but it can never rob us of the most important relationship of our lives. When we cling to Him, we have the almighty creator of the universe with us, and that will never die.