When God is at work in your life, He will often start by killing your dream.

We’re living in the wrong country if the above statement is true, aren’t we? The American dream is that if we can dream it, we can make it a reality. And we hear success story after success story that seem to affirm our belief in the American dream. The Karolyis, the famed Romanian coaches of the woman’s gymnastic team that won gold at Rio, are an example. They defected to this country 40 years ago with nothing in their pockets. And they took odd jobs and started training some local gymnasts. 40 years later, after much hard work, they have built an empire that will produce many generations of successful gymnasts.

It is an inspiring story to be sure. But that is not normally how God works. God doesn’t normally choose an ambitious person who wants to make a difference in the world to make a lasting difference. Rather, He chooses a regular folk like you and me, crush what little dream we might have had, and then He works His magic to turn it around so that He would get the glory!

The story of Ruth in the Bible is a prime example. Ruth’s dream might have been very meager – raise a family and live to a ripe old age. But even that meager dream was crushed when her husband died and her mother-in-law, Naomi, wanted to go back to her country. She would have to start all over again. But she abandons her dream when she decides to go with her mother-in-law, and especially make her God her God. God honors this decision and gives her a gift that she could never imagine – she becomes the great grandmother of KingDavid, but more importantly, be included in the lineage of Jesus Christ!

When your dream dies, God’s purpose can now be fulfilled.

PH