Your Dreams Can't Save You

              Savior.

              What did this word bring to mind for you? Undoubtedly, for those professing to be Christians or those who grew up in the church, Jesus crossed your mind. For others, perhaps it was a significant role model- maybe a parent or grandparent without whom you would not be who you are. Still others think of a sports hero or celebrity who has been an encouragement to them or given them the word of hope that they needed in a dark time of life. Maybe it has even been a dream or hope for the future, not a person, that you consider to have rescued you from dark time.

              All that being said, I imagine that the title of this article may have seemed a bit harsh, or perhaps even discouraging- especially in a culture where following your dreams seems to be one of the main messages promoted to young and old alike. It is more important than anything else, many would say, to be true to yourself and to your heart’s desires.

              So what do I mean when I say that your dreams can’t save you?

              It is far too often that we view our journey as a series of steps rather than one cohesive whole- meaning, we are always holding goals out before ourselves, telling ourselves that when we have reached these goals, we will have “made it”. For example, the average single young man or woman desires greatly for companionship- a boyfriend or girlfriend that will hopefully become a husband or wife someday. And so they wait, thinking that their real life will start once they have obtained this.

              Fast-forward a year later. Our young person has found themselves a spouse and is happily married- however, their burning desire is now to raise children. They have always wanted children, but now that they actually have a spouse, the desire has somehow grown a whole lot stronger. So they begin to try for a child and, alas, have one not too long afterwards.

              Our young family has grown from one to two to now four, but the next “item on the agenda”, so to speak, is a house. They need a good house to really raise their family in- though they are thankful for the condo, with two kids now, it is just not cutting it… On and on and on it goes.

              The details of the story may change, but the moral remains the same; we always feel as though we are in a “training stage” in life- always looking forward to the next thing, telling ourselves that when we have achieved so and so, we will be satisfied. Now, looking forward to things, being good stewards of what you’ve been given, and setting goals are not at all bad things- the problem comes when all your hope, and love, and affections are placed in that which you are waiting for. Our dreams, whatever they may be, begin to be that sacred “thing” that will deliver you from a place of mediocrity and unfulfillment to a place of greatness and fulfillment. However, nothing on this earth can fill the void that is within each one of us, no creature, no house, no dream can fix what is broken in every one of us.

              But Josiah, you don’t understand- my little boy is EVERYTHING to me. He has given me purpose, he motivates me to be a better person.

              This may be so right now. But some day that little boy will grow up. One day he will no longer depend on you. In fact, if he follows the path of almost every other teenager who ever lived he may not even like you, for awhile (and all the parents of teens said “amen”). What happens when he moves out and you are back on your on again? Of course, he will visit and call, but he will have his own life to take care of- what will become of yours?

              The same can be said of any objection. Any married couple who is being honest will tell you that their spouse did not “complete” them as media would have us believe. Though I believe marriage can be an incredibly joyful adventure, I am also confident that rather than saving you from your errors and inner problems it will actually expose them (don’t take my word for it- after all, I’m just a single young man. Go ask any married couple you know and see if this rings true).

              Any person starting a new job that they had hoped for for years will tell you that though it may be incredibly exciting and may fill the hole that was within you for a time, it will get old and you will begin to want for something else.¹

              The fact of the matter is, anytime we place the full weight of our love, affections, or hopes in anything other than God, expecting that they rather than Jesus will save us, we set ourselves up for heartbreak and life-long striving.

              Puritan writer Henry Scougal puts it like this,

Again, as divine love doth advance and elevate the soul, so it is that alone which can make it happy. The highest and most ravishing pleasures, the most solid and substantial delights that human nature is capable of, are those which arise from the endearments of a well-placed and successful affection. That which embitters love, and makes it ordinarily a very troublesome and hurtful passion, is the placing it on those ho have not worth enough to deserve it, or affection and gratitude to requite it, or whose absence may deprive us of the pleasure of their converse, or their miseries occasion our trouble. To all these evils are they exposed, whose chief supreme affection is placed on creatures like themselves; but the love of God delivers us from them all.²

              In other words, our wrongly placed affections end up leading us far astray, into misery and turmoil rather than fulfillment, which can come from the love of God alone. In fact, Scougal makes the case, and I would agree, that not only does the love of God deliver us from the turmoil of misplaced affections leading to a broken heart; in His love alone can we find “the highest and most ravishing pleasures, the most solid and substantial delights that human nature is capable of.”

              One more piece of bad news before we arrive at the really, really good news (and it is good- good enough to blot out ALL of the bad), which I’ve already hinted at. The same problem lies within each and every one of us. It’s not that we need a spouse or new job, or a house or a child. It’s not merely that we are selfish or greedy, though these things are nasty fruits of the problem. It’s not even that we’re doing too much for ourselves and not for God. Our problem is not whatever temporal, transient thing we may believe it is- our problem, in one word, is sin.

              Each and every one of us who is born on this earth is born with a natural inclination towards wrong-doing. Don’t believe me? Leave a young child in a room with a piece of cake, telling them not to eat it, and see what happens. You may protest that this is not a fair scenario, as we have set them up for failure. However, we need not look only to this imagined situation to prove the point. Find a parent of a young child and ask them two questions- one, has their child ever lied, stolen something, or done wrong to another person? Two, did the parent teach them to do this?

              Indeed, the Bible teaches us this truth, confirming what we see naturally. Psalm 51:5 says, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity [wickedness or immorality], and in sin did my mother conceive me.” When our first parents Adam and Eve sinned, they cast the rest of us into sin along with them (Romans 5:12). They, being our representatives, willfully separated themselves and, by proxy, us from God by choosing to sin, tainting their natures and ours with the stain of sin. Therefore, the question is answered- we are not sinners because we sin, but rather, we sin because we are sinners.

              But thank God for His love- He has seen us in our distress and our hopelessness and has provided a way of true salvation! Where we unceasingly strive to fix ourselves through doing “good things” or through a relationship, or through a dream we may have, God has looked upon us in love and mercy and has provided a way that saves us totally.

              I’m sure we have all heard John 3:16 at some point- whether it be in Sunday School as a child, at a sporting event, or maybe even at a church service or funeral. But unfortunately, I think we often miss the sheer power of it. We hear it and think, oh, that’s nice. God loves me and saved me and all that and we continue trying to fill the void within us with jobs or relationships, thinking that they will deliver us from our state of unfulfillment. Ironically, we look at the explicit answer to our problem and then turn around and do the opposite! Not only do we disbelieve in Jesus and what He’s done, but we consider it not enough and go on to try to save ourselves. Let’s take a closer look at the verse with a fresh perspective…

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will never die, but have eternal life. John 3:16

              If you believe that your problem is your lack of any earthly thing, then this verse makes little sense. If our problem is that we believe we should be married but currently are not, then Jesus’ sacrifice in taking the punishment for our sins is a side effect, and enjoying eternal life with Him is a “nice bonus.” But when we release that each and every one of us is broken by sin, morally, emotionally, and spiritually, separated from God, and that Jesus has died for that very problem, taking the full weight of its punishment upon Himself, then our hope begins to rise and our hearts begin to sing praise to the one who has delivered us from our seemingly hopeless situation.

              All this is not at all to say that dreams and aspirations for the future are a bad thing- they are not, in and of themselves. They become poison when we believe that they will rescue us. Dreams can’t save you from sin. Family can’t fix your fractured soul. A spouse or children can’t mend your broken heart. But Jesus can do all of these things. He paid the highest price to do all of these things. All you have to do is believe in Him, turning away from your own efforts at fixing yourself and trusting that not only is He more than capable, He is also willing and desirous to do so. Turn to Jesus. Find true life. Find salvation.

¹There is one exception- if your work drives you closer and closer to Jesus and causes you to find fulfillment in Him, then perhaps you will be satisfied in one job for a long, long time. However, this really is an exception that proves the rule.

²Henry Scougal, The Life of God in the Soul of Man (Louisville, KY; GLH Publishing 1868)