What do you do when your dreams lay broken and burning all around you? How do you carry on when it seems like all the ways your life was “supposed to be” have turned up empty? How do you find your way through the darkness of despair when nothing you look at proves that you are worth something? You must recognize your dreams, wishes and desires for what they are—cotton candy. Cotton candy is tasty and we might crave it when going to the fair or carnival. But it has no substance and ends up just being a sticky reminder of a sugar high. Now, hear me out—I’m not saying that dreams are bad. I’m also not saying cotton candy is bad!The problem comes when we think that cotton candy is going to provide our sustenance and make us content for the rest of the day based on its nutrition.Often, we look to our dreams and ambitions to motivate us through life. We might seek a better job, a spouse and family, a quiet life with no discord. We think that if we could just achieve these dreams, our lives would be just what we wanted and all would be well. We think that cotton candy is going to make us satisfied long-term.Again, I’m not saying wanting these things is bad. But I am suggesting we sometimes put dreams in the wrong place. We determine the success of our life based on our achievements of these dreams. And we measure the failure of our life based on the lack of achievements.I know a lot of people who have fought for and achieved the dreams which inspired them. I know, also, the dream cannot be the sustenance, as people don’t find all they hoped for in the career, the marriage, the family or the life which they desired. And they have to go on to another dream, or try to force the achievement they already have into a mold to give life.Marriages that started with huge promise end in divorce. Children who are prayed for and loved decide to make painful decisions. Businesses fold and we are left hanging with no job and no financial stability. Our physical strength and wellness fades or nosedives completely as we face cancer, aging or mental illness.Mike Wells used to say that everything should be held with an open hand. The minute a fist was clenched around something that was a gift, it held the wrong place in a person’s life. We want so badly to hold onto the dreams and desires as the source of our value or happiness. But we have to move past them and reach for the One who brings value and joy to any circumstance.What is the desire of your heart? Is it the marriage, goal or career? Or is it really to be held in such tender strength by the Lover of your soul—the One who loves you constantly and fully, the One who pursues you with little regard for the difficulty to Him in doing so, and the One who wants you to find yourself complete in His identity.None of these dreams and additions are the goal. They are nice, and I will enjoy any of them God puts in my hand. But the goal is Him, and the rest I must hold with an open hand. We press on toward the goal of knowing Jesus. I don’t depend on my own strength to accomplish this; however I do have one compelling focus: I forget all of the past as I fasten my heart to the future instead. I run straight for the divine invitation of reaching the heavenly goal and gaining the victory-prize through the anointing of Jesus. So let all who are fully mature have this same passion, and if anyone is not yet gripped by these desires, God will reveal it to them. Philippians 3:13-15 TPT
Cotton Candy & Broken Dreams