When Least Expected™

When Our Big Dreams Don’t Cooperate

April 6th, 2007 at 10:51pm Manchild

As many of you know, I’ve been in the process of birthing my big dream, but it doesn’t want to cooperate. For all the new members to our culturally diverse group of critical thinkers, my big dream is the pending release of my first reality-based novel which bears the same name as this site. It’s no secret that I’ve been carrying around the weight of this ever evolving literary project for over 10 years.

Yes, there have been many days when I’ve felt like giving up and quitting. But my faith in God has brought me too far to turn back now and feelings can be deceiving. Besides, meeting the “greatness of God’s faithfulness” has made it impossible for me to lose hope and abandon my vision and forget my big dream. In the meantime, what do we choose to do while we’re waiting on the Lord to open doors and windows no mortal hand can close? If you’re a writer, keep writing. Do some additional research. The faithful remain hopeful.

Use the extra time to see if there’s a better way, a more cost effective way, an unforeseen way to make your big dream come true. But whatever you do, don’t take your eyes off Jesus like Peter did and start looking at the winds of Adversity when they begin to blow. Isn’t it interesting that as long as Peter stayed focused on Jesus, he managed to do the impossible by “walking on the water.” Quick question. Who or what are you still allowing to distract you, to annoy you, to wear you down, to discourage you, to hinder you, just to keep you from doing what God created you to do with excellence?

Can it be that our “fear of failure” is still keeping many of us from getting out of the boat of what’s giving us a false sense of security? Since the first day of this unpredictable “year of firsts,” how many times have I challenged each of you to keep getting up, showing up, and pushing past the pain? How many times have I tried to encourage and inspire you to believe that we can help each other achieve great things with God’s help? Quit? Never. Give up? It’s not going to happen. I’m too close to finishing the task that my skeptical antagonists alleged was impossible for somebody like me to do.

When our big dreams don’t cooperate, what should we do during those “dark days and lonely nights when all seems lost?” Cry if you must but trust God absent any reservations. Quitting is never an option if you honestly believe that you were born to write or do what you’re doing now. Remember, God’s delay does not always mean that your big dream has been denied. I’ve learned not to argue with God when the answer to a prayer is “no.” Sometimes God’s no is an indication that now is not the time. One never knows how close they came to succeeding until after they give up and quit. Matters not what happens after our big dreams refuse to cooperate, trust God anyway.

Besides, not doing so would also make me a “hypocrite” since the main character of Steppin’ Out Of The Darkness, “When Good People Become Great,” is faced with the same adverse circumstances, unforeseen obstacles, and character building challenges I’m struggling to overcome now. If time permits, you can read a brief excerpt from an earlier version of the “revised” chapter, “Sun Dried Bones, Abandoned Visions, And Forgotten Dreams,” to see how the protagonist responds to what he discovers in this modern day “valley of dried bones.” You’ll have to wait a little longer to see what additional editing can do to make a manuscript worthy of your prospective readers’ time, respect, and hard earned money.

Having a quiet talk with God in my secret place usually puts me at peace whenever the invisible fist of Adversity strikes. Reading the Word of God always works for me when I don’t understand the reasons why now is not the time. According to Ecclesiastes 3:1-22 NIV, “There is a time” and a season for everything that happens on either side of the “Great Spiritual Divide.” Do you mind sharing some of your favorite Scriptures that have inspired you to “keep risin’ after every fall?” For those of you who aren’t “Christians” or faithful followers of the Christ, which means “the Anointed One,” what do you do during your darkest night of the soul?

I can still recall all the days God made me experience whatever I was going to teach during my in home Bible studies to see if my actions spoke louder than my words. As you know, “a faith that cannot be tested is a faith that cannot be trusted.” Is my faith in God being tested and strengthened right now? Most definitely. But God has never let me down. Tonight, I’ll have to search for the poem that talks about what happens when we pray for faith but God gives us more challenges to overcome. If you already have a copy of what I’m seeking, let me know where I can find it. When all else fails, all you can you do is “stand.” Just be careful where you choose to stand.

To illustrate what I mean, here’s a verse from the popular hymn, “The Solid Rock.”

“On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.”

© Copyright 2007 by Roderick O. Solomon. All Rights Reserved.

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Entry Filed under: Acts Of Faith, Art of Teaching, Book Excerpts, Christianity, Conflict Resolution, Creative Writing, Critical Thinkers, Cultural Diversity, Education, Inspiration, Leadership, Male-Female Relationships, My Big Dream, Parenting Skills, Personal Development, Personal Leadership, Self-Esteem, Social Injustice, Social Justice, Steppin' Out Of The Darkness, Taking A Stand, The Challenge, Think About It, Wise Words