The Difference Between Dreaming and Losing Hope

Just a square of paper creased here and there, the transformation wasn’t visible until it sat there completed. I wanted to walk away, up and quit about halfway through.  But my girl was patiently waiting nearby, so I kept folding the paper even though it looked nothing like a butterfly. When I placed it in her hands, I realized that in the middle of my frustration, I had only been one fold away from something beautiful.  I watched her fingers curl around its wings delicately, her bright red nail polish peeling back from the tips of her tiny fingernails.

Something stirred deep within me when she looked up and said, “Mom, it’s amazing. I want another one.” I grabbed a new blank square and started all over again. I knew what was coming, even though I still didn’t see it until that last fold. Dreams are that way, too.

There is no dreaming without waiting. If your heart longs for something beautiful, it isn’t automatic. Dreams take time to develop. They mature and grow one crease at a time. Lately, I’ve found myself stuck in the waiting.  Stuck trying so very hard to see the beautiful butterfly through the frustration and fear. I’m learning that the secret to waiting well is remembering.

Waiting looks forward with hope, yet waiting also remembers to look back without moving back. And this is the difference between dreaming and losing hope.

Simon Peter was a strong and courageous man whose profession required him to wait. The day Jesus showed up in Simon’s life was a day like every other. He was mending his nets in the early morning light after a long, unsuccessful night out on the water. Jesus told Simon to put the boat back into deep water and let the nets down again. It made absolutely no sense. But what he said to Jesus revealed his willingness to follow, and perhaps it was the very thing that Jesus saw in Simon when He called him out of the crowd.

Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” Luke 5:5

Because you say so, I will.

The number of fish that were caught that day was so great that the nets began to break. And the boat could hardly hold the miracle. Simon traded his broken nets for a dream.

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.”  Luke 5:10

Jesus changed his name to Peter, and he became a student of the Rabbi.  Peter hung on every word the Teacher spoke.  He also became one of Jesus’ closest friends. Peter even walked on water with Jesus. But then he denied he even knew the man.  Three times, Peter failed.  It was an unexpected turn in the story that everyone should have seen but no one saw coming. Jesus was crucified and it seemed as if all the disciples’ hopes and dreams died right along with Him.

In the midst of waiting, Peter returned to his fishing boat. Peter wasn’t abandoning his dream; he had to go back to remember. And he didn’t go alone.

Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.  John 21:2-3

Memories were refreshed out on the sea, because that’s where these men were when Jesus interrupted their lives. Out in the fishing boat, years before, they had heard Jesus speak this really big, really bold, impossible dream: I will make you fishers of men.  Jesus would do the remaking because it was Jesus’ dream.  

Peter had to look back to where it all started to remember that this dream belonged to Jesus, because there’s nothing scarier than dreaming alone. I wonder if that’s why Jesus began His call with the words, “Don’t be afraid.”

In looking back, we remember that the dream belongs to Jesus.

While the crew was out on the water, Jesus called to them from the shore. This wasn’t just Rabbi Jesus; this was Risen Jesus. He knew they were waiting for a catch, just like the day He called them to become something more. He told the men to let the nets down on the right side of the boat, and they did. One hundred fifty three fish were caught with one net. Yet this time the net wasn’t torn. It was stronger. If Peter was to go out and capture hearts rather than fish, only one net would do.  The gospel net.  This was the only net big enough and strong enough and guaranteed not to break. 

In looking back, we remember that the dream is impossible without the cross.

Peter tried to make the dream about him, and I’m no different. But without the cross there would be no dream.  Without the cross, Peter would be stuck holding onto his fear and failure.  And so would we. Later in the book of Acts, Peter is almost unrecognizable. I wonder how often Peter whispered to himself: Because You say so, Jesus. Because You say so. Our dreams are possible not because we’re smart, not because we’re talented, not because we’ve worked so hard, but because Jesus says so.

The butterfly effect is this idea that a single occurrence can change the course of the universe forever. It reminds me of God’s love poured out on Calvary. Without Jesus’ death our dreams would be futile, and without His resurrection our dreams would be impossible. Jesus changed everything for you and for me. His single act of Love causes our dreams to take flight.

The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it. 1 Thessalonians 5:24