Short Story Reflection on “Building Dreams that Last”

As a follow-up to my latest short story, “Building Dreams that Last,” I wanted to share a few thoughts. If you haven’t read my short story yet, you can check it out here – it’s only a 3 minute read! I wrote this story based on my personal experience with Jesus and my own pursuit of my dreams. I have for years, strived to build something for myself only to eventually find out that I had done it with all the wrong hidden motives. It wasn’t until everything I had tried to build came crashing down did I finally have an encounter with Jesus, who taught me there was another way to build dreams that last. 

Jesus is so good in my life that He never let what I had built on the wrong foundation of selfish ambition to remain standing. He knew it would never last. He showed me a better way, showing me how to trust Him with my dreams and that by giving Him my dreams, He was able to breathe on them and bring life to them in a way only Jesus could do. That is why the ending is so impactful. 

In part, the idea of this short story came from the famous Parable of the Wise and Foolish Builders. Found in Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus recounts a story of a man who builds his house on rock as its foundation, comparing it to someone who who follows Jesus’ teachings. This house which is built on a strong foundation, does not collapse when heavy storms come by. Jesus compares this man to another man who builds his house on the foundation of sand, saying this man is like someone who doesn’t obey Jesus’ teachings. This house collapses when storms come because its foundation is weak and crumbles. Jesus calls this man foolish because he chose to build on the wrong foundation that would not last the test of time. 

Another scripture that inspired this short story is found in Matthew 16: 24-25:

Jesus says to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.”

The imagery I used in “Building Dreams that Last,” of all my self-built dreams crumbling is imagery I pulled from both of these mentioned scriptures. Because my dreams crumbled and its because I tried to hold on tightly to my life and the things I wanted for my life. I learned that by holding on tightly to the dreams I wanted so desperately to achieve, they actually crumbled – just like Jesus said about our lives. We end up losing control of our lives and compromise our soul to keep them. Building self-focused empires with secretly prideful motivation will not last, especially if we have hearts after the things of God. 

Perhaps you find yourself in a similar cycle of constantly feeling like the dreams you are building come crashing down. Perhaps you also have recognized similar motivations in your heart that you were not aware of before. Take heart! Because Jesus actually has better plans for your life, to build dreams that last because they are on the right foundation of faith, trust and obedience. 

That is why the ending of my story is so important, Jesus never lets us stay stuck surrounded by our piles of ashes. No, He wants us to come to Him so that He can make something beautiful out of those ashes. Isaiah 61:3 promises, “To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair.” Proverbs 13:12 also says, “hope deferred makes the heart sick but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.” These scriptures paint of picture of hope for those of us who feel we are filled with ashes, mourning and hope deferred. Jesus is the one who brings dead things to life and gifts us with a crown of beauty, a joyous blessing and dreams fulfilled. All we need to do is trust that Jesus can do what we cannot. Will you choose to trust Him and put your dreams in His hands?