Wishes – Glimmers of Hope

A dream is a wish your heart makes
When you’re fast asleep
In dreams you lose your heartaches
Whatever you wish for, you keep
Have faith in your dreams and someday
Your rainbow will come smiling thru
No matter how your heart is grieving
If you keep on believing
the dream that you wish will come true.

When I was a child, I loved to make wishes. I made them while standing outside in the dark, standing on the grass in my bare feet, gazing upon the stars. I made them in pretty party dresses surrounded by friends and family as I puckered up and blew out the candles on the cake. I made them on sun filled summer days while playing hide-and-go-seek, as I stopped to blow on the Dandelions. I made them sitting in a corner, in the dark, when I felt lost, scared and alone. I made them in my heart, the place where no one could see or hear them.

But God always saw them. A dream is a wish your heart makes. God has been speaking to me lately about those little wishes that are tucked away deep inside my heart, no matter how big or how small.

I wish I were a better mother.
I wish I had more time to be home with my children.
I wish I could ask forgiveness easier.
I wish I wasn’t so distracted.
I wish I could keep up with the housework.
I wish I could paint better, sing better, pray better.
I wish…I wish…I wish!

Wishing….Hoping….Dreaming. Aren’t they the same thing? Still, wishes seem safer to me. They are not quite hopes and they are definately not dreams. Like a child, with eyes tightly shut, I still come wishing, daring not to hope, let alone dream, afraid I may be disappointed. God is very attentive to the whisperings of my heart. Even when I don’t voice my desires, He hears them. And He promises that He will give me the desires of my heart when I first delight in Him.

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

These desires start out as wishes…glimmers of hope…dreams yet unfulfilled. He is teaching me to invite Him into these areas of my life that I “wish” to do better. When I partner up with God and release my hopes, dreams and fears to Him, He is then able to take my wishes and turn them into hopes and dreams realized, according to His perfect will and plan for my life.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)

What have you been wishing for, hoping for or dreaming about these days?