The subject of many best sellers and award-winning movies deals with how to overcome broken dreams and disappointments. It is heavy drama that we can relate to at some level. It is a subject that draws us into the story for we may have experienced a similar event in our own life. It is often heard that a movie was wonderful because “I cried all the way through it.” The pathos of others invokes our feelings and is absorbing. We can empathize as we share a very human experience. Let’s talk about 8 ways we can be overcomers.
We Want to “Live Happily Ever After.”
However, we seek to avoid having that pain and drama in our real life. We want to “live happily ever after.” We work hard to be successful in our careers and not only keep our jobs but to excel. We practice endlessly to perfect an art that will land us in the big times. We carefully choose to fall in love with one who can return the love, and who can and will earn and keep our trust. We eat well and exercise to ward off health problems, if possible. We practice honesty and truthfulness to have a name that is beyond repute.
And yet, the storms of life sometimes knock us off our feet.
Despite all our plans and efforts, the business fails. Your child is ridiculed or laughed at for whatever reason. Your health or that of your beloved fails; years of treatment and care replace what was supposed to be the happiest time of your life. The one you trust and committed your life to falls for another. The partner absconds with the profits in your partnership. The young surgeon develops a tremor.
We need an anchor. We need strength. We need security.
In the midst of our best laid plans and the promises of success, we need the power from the presence of God in our lives to see us through. To guide us in the good times and to carry us when, not if, losses come.
The year of 2020 will live in infamy as the year of broken dreams and disappointments. The Covid pandemic has touched literally every life on this planet. Not only with severe illness and even death, but with the loss of jobs, the isolation of individuals and families, the disruption of education, loneliness and despondency with the related addiction and depression, and the disruption of plans and dreams.
We are struggling to regain some of what is lost, encouraged by the vaccines, treatments and natural immunity that give us confidence to once again function in our normal roles. Hearts cried out for help from the Lord during this time from those who heretofore had never realized they needed help. Believers cry out for God’s grace and mercy and strength and healing from God.
Overcoming the Pandemic
As we step out of the dismal pandemic era, many are faced with the question of how to overcome the broken dreams and disappointments, the rubble left behind. We are tired. We are discouraged. Our losses from the business preclude us from reopening. We may have lost out on opportunities of developing a talent at a crucial time. The divorce rate is soaring. Some have become victims of addiction and alcohol abuse. They have a long road of recovery ahead. Many have empty places at the Holiday tables because Covid had no mercy.
Whether your pain is Covid related or due to other reasons, the recovery is much the same.
8 Ways to Overcome Broken Dreams and Disappointment
1. The pain cannot be avoided.
We are asking God to teach us how to overcome the pain and the loss. We must deal with it as with any grief or loss – acknowledge it, accept it, drop the blame, and move forward. Recognize and identify your loss. Decide to take it one step at a time in getting back to where you were educationally, financially, and relationally. Harder than it sounds, right?
Don’t be surprised when a bad day engulfs you. Reach out to others for help. Be kind and helpful in return. Remember, everyone has had a rough time. If we can refuse to play the blame game, but rather be someone’s encourager, the encouragement of others will come our way.
We shall overcome as the song speaks to us. But it will take time and determination. Trust in God for your strength. And remember, someone needs your helping hand.
2. Decide to rebuild your life.
Or be embittered. Bitterness will drive those that you need away from you. It will warp your very being. Ask God to renew you from the inside out, to sustain you, to fill you with his strength.
And it follows that love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control will begin to fill your life. This growth is produced by the Spirit of God who comes to live in your life. We need this helper to even exist and pull us out of the doldrums. And when we acknowledge his presence, we will be overwhelmed with the strength that his presence provides.
3. Your loss, your hurt, your pain is not to be disregarded.
You did not deserve this. Unfairness can be overwhelming. Finances may never return to the same level. Opportunities may well pass over us – for now – but watch for the new.
Whatever the cause of your loss, learn to again live expectantly, always reassessing your losses and acknowledging any gains. Rebuilding your dreams. Rebuilding your love. Rebuilding your life. You are a stronger person than when you entered this wilderness. You are learning to cast your cares on God and to seek his guidance daily.
You have been hurt; you have suffered. You can now relate to others who are deep in the mire.
We have known rejection and unfair treatment. Jesus too was acquainted with grief, rejection, and was despised, and we esteemed him not. Therefore, we know that he understands our pain. We know that he is all powerful and promises to be with us always. In Isaiah we read, “Fear not for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Just what I need – a living Savior who will hold me up and carry me through – always. My heart is full of gratitude for this promise and the peace that his presence brings into my life.
Rejoice in the Hope that is ours. In the Grace that is offered to us. In the new life that is ours because of God’s Mercy and Love.
We invite you to watch the GREAT NEWS FOR YOU Video on this page. Your life can be transformed today!
4. Be decisive. Be thankful. Be positive. Be kind. Be a helper.
When we realize that most everyone needs a boost sometimes, of some type, we will be inclined to step back into our former roles of encourager and leader. We become our old selves again – the person who is true to his word, a helper, provider for family, friend to the fallen. Someone needs a hand-up. Someone needs a pat on the back. Someone needs a detailed map for his recovery. Someone needs to hear that God is the answer, the healer, the helper, and that he forgives us and loves us. Not that we deserve it at all. But because we come, recognizing our weakness, and trusting him for salvation and a new life.
This is the time for you to reemerge to pattern to others the road to renewal, to resourceful living, to being the resolute former you. Renewed and repurposed, we rise again as the mythical Phoenix. God has great plans for you and for me. Feel that flutter of eagerness to flourish and live again?
5. Now let it go! There comes a time when we must let the hurt go.
A time to forgive those who have hurt you. A time to stop playing the “story” over and over until it becomes who we are. A time to take your losses, determine where you are, and make a concerted plan and effort to follow through with it – a plan for your future. We must let go the “what-woulda-beens” and rather step into the reality of recovery, recuperation, and restitution.
Continuing to live in the misery of constantly replaying the loss and the unfairness of your situation, delays progress in your new life and your new relationships. You must learn how to overcome broken dreams and disappointments. May we be joyous overcomers!
This is very difficult. You will need family and friends to support you. A professional counsellor or consultant may be needed.
Often it is difficult to see clearly or make decisions when we have been undermined, unfairly attacked, cheated on, or even when death takes a loved one. Do not try to do this alone.
We must step back into life and the struggles of moving forward. Experiencing the presence of God in our life, we are finally able to say, “We are Troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are Perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; Cast down, but not destroyed.” As did Paul in II Cor 4:8,9
6. Shine. Sparkle. Smile. Succeed.
The heartbreak of our broken dreams and bitter disappointments will not disappear quickly. They cannot successfully be buried – they must be addressed.
If you have had losses, including the loss of a loved one in the past, you know that it is work to recover. The hurt must be faced, the pain acknowledged. The tears will flow. The days slowly go from gray to dismal, but with a streak of sunlight.
And then one day you realize that you feel alive again and that energy and hope are alive within you. Remember your history with God. He brought you through other losses. He will not forsake you now. Reach out and help the weaker ones. Be a purveyor of good news. Let anger and bitterness drop away from you.
I am determined that whatever or whoever has hurt me will not be the victor. I am determined that I will not let the enemy destroy my joy or steal my happy heart. I will dream my dreams and work toward their fruition with whatever adjustments that need to be made.
I will pave the way for the young to raise their young in a world of peace and love. I am determined not to be destroyed by hate and blame and unforgiveness. And I am assured that this can only happen when I yield it all to God and trust Him to be that person that my heart desires. Let’s leave a footprint for those that come behind that will lead them to a life of faith and love and joy. Maybe we can help others learn how to overcome broken dreams and disappointments. May we be joyous overcomers!
7. Starting Over – Not an Easy Assignment
Starting over, whether from a broken love affair, a disaster, a destructive action of someone we trusted, or whatever your loss —- it is not easy. Acknowledging, reckoning, facing, forgiving, and accepting is necessary. Necessary for you – for me – to recover. Waste no time. Face it. Weep. Believe. Make new dreams. Move forward. Learn to trust again. Entertain joy in your life again. You can do it.
Look around you – you are surrounded by survivors. You are not a loser! You are experiencing this so that later you will be able to help someone else who is experiencing broken dreams and disappointments. You will be that friend to help another through his turmoil, his own dark tunnel. I pray you will look up and trust God to help you with every step, every moment of every day.
May we all learn how to overcome broken dreams and disappointments. May we be joyous overcomers!
We invite you to watch the GREAT NEWS FOR YOU Video on this page. Your life can be transformed today!
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