When Small Dreams Shatter…
The Lord could have done something. And he did nothing. How else could she think? Her husband and both sons, all three dead. And yet God is the God of the impossible. He can do anything. But He did nothing. (Shattered Dreams pg. 44)
Naomi knew a lot about shattered dreams. Maybe you do too- a lost job, the end of a marriage, the death of a child, a desperate illness or injury. Or maybe you’ve been so challenged with simply surviving all of your life that you never even had a chance to dream.
Despair takes hold. Darkness surrounds you. Hope is hard to find and Christian community is often the most dangerous place to be when your dreams shatter.
Why doesn’t God do something? What are you going to do now that both shoes have dropped?
Our shattered dreams are never random. They are always a piece in a larger puzzle, a chapter in a larger story.
– Larry Crabb
Shattered Dreams
…Dare to Dream a Bigger Dream.
A shattered dream is not an accident of fate. It is an ordained opportunity for the Spirit first to awaken and then to satisfy our highest dream.
The shattering of our deepest dream of fulfillment in the present becomes the unexpected pathway to the happiness Jesus knew during His life on earth: the happiness of trusting God, serving others, and confidently waiting for the complete happiness that will come when we are reunited with God in paradise forever.
In His severe mercy, God takes away the good to create an appetite for the better, and then eventually, He satisfies the new appetite, liberating you to love well.
No matter how shattered your dream and how far away God seems, there is hope- there is a bigger dream to dream.
Will you join us as we Live the Larger Story?
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. James 1:2-4 NLT
Suggested Readings
Waiting for Heaven
by Larry Crabb
When God's Ways Make No Sense
by Larry Crabb
Shattered Dreams
by Larry Crabb
A Different Kind of Happiness
by Larry Crabb
Get to know Dr. Larry Crabb
View sample videos from the Larger Story archive.
Or see our comprehensive guide of Larry’s Life work.
Living in the Larger Story | Episode 6 | Finding God
Dr. Larry Crabb is interviewed at the 2018 Convene Conference by Greg Leith
Living in the Larger Story | Episode 7 | God of My Father
Each birthday from ages 10 to 21 Larry would asks his two sons some combinations of the following questions based on what is going on in their worlds and stages of life.