Day 16 – Dreams That Died

Scripture: Proverbs 13:12

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when longing is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.”

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Sometimes what breaks your heart isn’t just the loss of someone you love—it’s the loss of what could have been. The dreams that never came true. The future you planned that now feels out of reach.

These are deaths too. Invisible funerals attended in silence—and you are the only one present. Those losses deserve to be grieved.

Believing that grief is the loss of “what has been” is a common misconception. One of the most overwhelming questions in grief is “what do I do now?” In the best of times we don’t know what the future holds. In times of loss and grief we may wonder if there even is a future.

Proverbs tells us that when hope is delayed or lost, it makes the heart sick. That’s not a spiritual failure—it’s a human response to disappointment. God doesn’t shame your dashed dreams. He meets you in them. And over time, He plants new seeds—unexpected ones that carry new life.

It’s okay to say goodbye to what might have been. After the “goodbye,” there is room for a new “hello.” Allow time and emotional space in your life to work through the loss of the future you hoped for. One day, you will sense the growing presence of what might be.

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Practice for Today

Name one dream that has died. Light a candle in its memory. Bless it. Release it.

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Journaling Prompt

What dream are you grieving? What new possibilities might still grow in the soil of loss?

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Closing Blessing

Invite God to attend the funeral of your lost dreams.
Feel the compassion that overflows to you even in that dark time.
Every seed that dies in sorrow is held in sacred soil.
Live in the confidence that resurrection is never off the table.

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Pray as You Go

Inhale: I mourn what might have been…
Exhale: …and trust You with what will be.