He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. — Philippians 1:6
On a trip to Rwanda for medical missions, I was wakeful at 5:30 a.m. A fellow physician and I decided to run the distance from our hospital in Kigali, Rwanda, to another hospital several miles away. This early morning run was our time to pray and reflect on God’s creation and His love for the people of Rwanda.
As we set out, a young man dressed in a sweatshirt and long pants was running the same direction as we departed the hospital. The man introduced himself as Pacifique. I settled into his pace, which was in fact more my pace. Plus, I love meeting new people, and I wanted to hear his story.
“I work now for a company. However, I had a dream to build green farming co-ops so farmers in the villages could find a better way to provide for their families,” he said.
“Had a dream?” I inquired.
He looked down at our shuffling feet. “My friend and I shared this dream... until he died one month ago. This is the first time I have run since his death. We always used to run together. I thought if I couldn’t have our dream, at least I could have our run.”
He was suffering the pain of loss. He lost his friend, and he lost their shared dream.
In that moment, it became apparent to me that it was orchestrated by God. I needed to encourage my new friend with my own story about dreaming dreams and seeing them realized.
I told him the place where he had joined us in running was called the Dream Medical Center. It is part of the Africa New Life Dream Center, founded by Dr. Charles and Florence Mugisha, my friends and mentors. Before the clinic was founded, the Dream Center was built on the belief that everyone deserves a chance to dream. It was a place for faith with a vibrant church and a seminary that trained pastors to serve East Africa and beyond. It was a place for hope where mothers were taught job skills and discipled. Most important, it was a place for love to be shared with the widows, the orphaned, and the poor.
I told Pacifique that the big hospital behind us was once only a small dream.
A small dream became a big, reckless dream… the kind of dream that is bound not by the possible but the limitless, because it was a God-placed dream.
I shared my experience in my Christian walk that when God asks me to do a big thing, He reveals His presence by the people He brings to the journey.
I shared with Pacifique that the Dream Medical Center is now considered one of the best in Rwanda. I encouraged him with the truth that our God-sized dreams came to pass despite our weaknesses. And that his dreams did not have to end just because he now dreams alone. God would bring people to help him fulfill the dream.
I must have been out of breath by that point, because our run continued for a few moments in silence. Finally, he said, “Thank you for helping me to see my dream again. It is also a reckless dream. I like that.”
If you are suffering like Pacifique, over the end of a life — your own or another’s — and because of unfinished dreams, unfulfilled purpose, take heart.
- If you have breath, God will give you purpose.
In fact, suffering gives you a stage, and pain becomes a microphone. People listen. You may find your purpose in sharing the wisdom you gained from success and failure during your lifetime. It may exist in communicating your regret so that those you love will not experience the same.
You may be in your life’s last quarter or even overtime, but you are still in the game or God would have called you home.
Remember that God sees and hears you in your suffering. Take courage and turn toward your dream — let yourself “see” it again — and ask God to show you your purpose as you run toward your finish line. Don’t fixate on regrets and things you can’t change, and don’t diminish the life you could still live.
Excerpted with permission from Anticipating Heaven by Pamela Pyle, copyright Pamela Pyle.
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Your Turn
Do you have a dream that seems to have died under the weight of suffering? In prayer today, ask God to help you trust Him to bring His good plans to pass. Ask Him to speak to you through His people, and show you how He still has purpose for your life. You are here for a reason, and still have much to give with each new day! ~ Devotionals Daily