What Do You Do When You Have Shattered Dreams?

Families Are Messy
What Do You Do When You Have Shattered Dreams?

I. Introduction

A. There’s who sees all of their dreams in this world fulfilled!

B. Genesis 16:1 (NLT) Now Sarai, Abram’s wife had not been able to bear children for him. But she had an Egyptian servant named Hagar.

C. Genesis 16:2 (NLT) So Sarai said to Abram, “The LORD has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal.

II. Ways We Can Respond to Shattered Dreams

A. We can become .

1. Genesis 16:3-5 (NLT) ³So Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian servant and gave her to Abram as a wife. (This happened ten years after Abram had settled in the land of Canaan.) ⁴So Abram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant. But when Hagar knew she was pregnant, she began to treat her mistress, Sarai, with contempt. ⁵Then Sarai said to Abram, “This is all your fault! I put my servant into your arms, but now that she’s pregnant she treats me with contempt. The LORD will show who’s wrong—you or me!”

 2. Bitterness our soul!

B. We can become .

C. We can .

1. Genesis 16:2, 4a (NLT) ²So Sarai said to Abram, “The LORD has prevented me from having children. Go and sleep with my servant. Perhaps I can have children through her.” And Abram agreed with Sarai’s proposal. ⁴So Abram had sexual relations with Hagar, and she became pregnant.

2. It’s good to not be in the face of our problems!

3. Genesis 16:5-6 (NLT) ⁵Then Sarai said to Abram, “This is all your fault! I put my servant into your arms, but now that she’s pregnant she treats me with contempt. The LORD will show who’s wrong—you or me!” ⁶Abram replied, “Look, she is your servant, so deal with her as you see fit.” Then Sarai treated Hagar so harshly that she finally ran away.

4. Genesis 16:7-11, 13a (NLT)  ⁷The angel of the LORD found Hagar beside a spring of water in the wilderness, along the road to Shur. ⁸The angel said to her, “Hagar, Sarai’s servant, where have you come from, and where are you going?” “I’m running away from my mistress, Sarai,” she replied. ⁹The angel of the LORD said to her, “Return to your mistress, and submit to her authority.” ¹⁰Then he added, “I will give you more descendants than you can count.” ¹¹And the angel also said, “You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael (which means ‘God hears’), for the LORD has heard your cry of distress.”  ¹³Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the LORD, who had spoken to her. She said, “You are the God who sees me.”

III. Two Questions to Ask Ourselves When We Are Suffering From a Shattered Dream:

A. “Is there any way I can turn this problem into an ?”

1. Part of turning a shattered dream into an opportunity is making sure you take time to for all of your blessings.

B. “What do I believe about ?”

1. God has already “evened the score”—by paying for all of our !

2. Genesis 16:13b (NLT) She said, “You are the God who sees me.”

3. Your Heavenly Father sees you with eyes of and compassion.

IV. Conclusion