Surrendering Dreams

I don't usually respond to posts on other blogs, but this is an exception. One of the Altogether Separate community members recently sent me to a post by Miss Raquel over at the God's Daughter blog. She told the story of a fellow Christian blogger who died in May, leaving a striking legacy behind him.


In the last blog post that he published, Joshua Steven Eddy wrote about the need to surrender everything— even those beautiful dreams that we hold close to our hearts—to the Lord. His words were inspiring:

To surrender a precious dream is a fearful thing, but to pursue anything but the full measure of the glory of God’s love is a wasted life.

About two weeks after he wrote this, Joshua was killed in a hiking accident. 

This is a challenge to all of us. Are we ready for death? Are we pursuing God's love above all else? Have we truly submitted to Him in every area of our lives? Nothing that is left un-surrendered can enter Heaven—no hope, no plea, no desire. Do you have precious dreams? Of course you do. Here are a few of mine:

Travel all over Europe

Publish a book

Fall passionately in love

Marry my "Mr. Darcy"

Serve the Lord with my writing skills

Become wealthy enough to enjoy the good things in life and give freely

Have family close by

Make many deep friendships

Live a life of adventure

Find or create work that I love

Die with dignity, surrounded by loved ones

What if I miss out on every single one of these? What if God denies me the chance to marry, or asks me to live a comparatively "humdrum" life? What if I never see green English meadows, or am forced to live far from friends and family for decades? What if my last years are miserable, broken, ugly?

Not my will, but His be done.

Am I going to abandon the pursuit of all these dreams? By no means. But when God closes the door to one or more of them I have to remind myself that they are surrendered, they are in His hands. That is what makes life truly worthwhile. If I pursue love, or adventure, or work as ends in themselves I will find nothing by emptiness, sand through my fingers. What I am really looking for is the full measure of the glory of God's love, and nothing less will do.

What are your darling dreams? Are you frightened at the prospect of surrendering them? 

Are you wasting your life pursuing what can never bring you joy? 

Original photo Lavender Dreams, a photo by Bhumika.B on Flickr.