The second dream killer is: disappointment. Disappointment is the gap that exists between expectation and reality, and we’ve all probably encountered that gap at some point in our lives. Maybe we’ve had to live with unfulfilled desires or we’ve had our hopes dashed, and it can damage us. When something goes wrong, or just doesn’t turn out the way we think it should, we say, ‘I’ll never do that again!’ But that’s not what we should be saying. It stops us from reaching our potential and can stop us from fulfilling our God-given dreams. Experiencing failure is the price we have to pay to achieve success. Sometimes we must face it and overcome it more than once in order to be able to move forward and pursue our dreams. Abraham was called to be the ‘father’ of a nation. But before he and Sarah had Isaac, he grew impatient and took matters into his own hands by having a son, Ishmael, with Sarah’s servant girl. This created a bad situation he had to live with all his life. But he never stopped believing in his God-given dream. The Bible says: ‘He did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised’ (vv. 20-21 NIV). The vital words here are: ‘was strengthened in his faith’. We must strengthen our faith each day by reading the Bible and praying, recalling God’s goodness and reminding ourselves that nothing is too hard for the Lord.

What Now?

What are you disappointed about at the moment? Write it out, then write out a prayer asking God to help you deal with the disappointment and keep having faith.