Laying Down Stones
Part 4 -- Stone Dreams
2 Kings 19:24-26
Isaiah’s scathing message to King Hezekiah was simple and direct: “You’ve created all of this power to boost your image. It will all become a pile of rocks.”
We’ve all had the experience of wanting something badly and having that dream crumble. Sometimes it feels like punishment from God even when it is simply bad luck or lousy planning.
What do we do with the dreams that have turned to gravel?
Learn: Was there something from this experience that we should learn? (Not the same question as, “Why did God do this to me?”) Can something from this experience make me a better person, more compassionate, or better able to deal with the next disappointment?
Let go: Sometimes there is nothing to learn. A friend is killed by a drunk driver. The love of your life is called off to war in Iraq. Your dream job is eliminated through down-sizing. There is nothing that you could have done to change this. Letting go doesn’t mean that something wasn’t important or that you can’t still grieve a loss. It simply means that the loss is no longer the driving force of your life.
Let God: When you don’t know what to do with the rubble of your dreams, let God have it. In the presence of grace, pain is transformed into healing, regrets dissolve, and we discover a connection with something larger than ourselves.
There is not one of us in this place who will escape this life without at least once finding your dreams have turned into a pile of rubble. Maybe you’re already carrying that pile around with you tonight. One of the things we have learned during this Lenten season is that one of the best ways to eventually experience the new life of resurrection is to let go of the things that are killing us.
Let your stone represent those broken dreams that you are ready to learn from, to let go of and to let God have. If you haven’t experienced any broken dreams lately, then bring your stone forward as an act of faith that when the time comes – and it will come – you will be ready to let God have the rubble of your broken dreams and make something new out of them.