Stretch Yourself

Heart Guide for Lesson 16:
Mending the Broken Heart

It is hard to go forward carrying the past with us. The Lord really wants to give us release over issues of the past. One of the hardest things to let go of are broken dreams. Because the dream gave us hope and vision for our future, we can't imagine how our life can work out now that it is broken beyond our ability to repair it.

Fortunately for us, the Father is the giver of every good gift and He is never at a loss for new dreams to give us—dreams of a restored life, a fresh start. It could go like this:

Plan A. The dreams God gave led us out into life with hope-filled hearts.

Plan B. Somehow the dream became broken - by someone's sin or events beyond control. This is the enemy's plan and it blocks the path forward. If we are snared by it we may become sodden with regrets and spend a lot of time trying to redeem things ourselves. But there is no going back because the dream can't be mended - certainly not by us. How can our life ever recover?

Plan C. Great news: the Lord is willing to meet you right where you are with a new path and new dreams to go with it. All you need to do is forgive anyone who needs to be forgiven (yourself included!), give the broken dream(s) back to the Lord, and then ask Him for the new dream(s), believing that you will receive them. What will the new life be like? You will have to trust Him and follow Him to find out!

Sweet new dreams will come—as you rest your heart on His planning ability.

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