Dream Again: God Restores What Seems Lost

Devotional

Day 1: Remembering: God has been better than we think

Life rarely unfolds exactly as we pictured; it’s usually mountaintops, valley lows, and all the in‑between. When you pause and look back, you begin to notice how God was present in both the high highs and the hard days. Psalm 126 invites you to remember moments when God turned things around and filled your life with laughter again. Even if the year carried disappointment, a deeper look often reveals quiet provision, unexpected helpers, and strength you didn’t know you had. As you reflect, let your heart say, God has been better than I first thought, and let that memory awaken fresh dreams. [03:29]

Psalm 126:1–3: When the Lord brought His people home from loss, it felt like waking into a joyful dream; mouths were filled with laughter and tongues with shouts, and the surrounding nations said, Their God has done remarkable things for them—yes, He has done great things for us, and we rejoice.

Reflection: Looking back over 2025, what is one specific hard moment where you now recognize God’s quiet care, and how will you mark that memory this week—with a written prayer of thanks, a conversation, or a simple act of worship?

Day 2: There’s always more for God to restore

The work is not finished; there’s always more for God to restore. Israel sang on the ascent, walking toward a city that wasn’t what it once was, yet asking for desert rains to flood the Negev. Our lives hold barren stretches too—relationships that feel dry, habits that need healing, hearts still learning to forgive. God meets those places with living streams, bringing long-buried seeds to life. Sowing with tears is not failure; it’s faith in motion that will one day harvest songs of joy. [06:57]

Psalm 126:4–6: Restore us, Lord, like sudden streams rushing through the Negev; those who scatter seed while they weep will return with arms full of harvest; the one who goes out in tears, carrying seed, will come home singing, carrying the sheaves.

Reflection: Where is your “Negev” right now, and what is one small, faithful seed you can plant this week (a confession, a call, a budget change, an apology) as you wait for God’s rain?

Day 3: Communion reorients life to Jesus’ victory

Communion reorients everything—we build our lives on Jesus’ death and resurrection, not on career wins or personal effort. Every time you break the bread and take the cup, you announce that the cross and the empty tomb are the foundation beneath your feet. If He is not in the grave, then it’s not over for you. This hope does not erase pain; it anchors you within it and lifts your eyes to what’s possible. Eat and drink with faith: until He comes again, get your hopes up and dream again. [14:15]

1 Corinthians 11:23–26: On the night He was betrayed, Jesus took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and said it was given for us so we would remember Him; after supper He took the cup, declaring a new covenant in His blood; whenever we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim His death until He comes.

Reflection: The next time you receive communion, which specific burden or storyline will you set back on the foundation of Jesus’ finished work, and what practical step will reflect that reorientation?

Day 4: Begin and end your day with God

God sees your mornings and your nights, and He welcomes you into a simple rhythm of presence. Begin the day with His Word, and end the day with His voice—perhaps a psalm and a chapter from the Gospels before bed. When comfort calls you to zone out, choose a small, steady habit that turns your attention to Him. Let those bookends of prayer and Scripture shape the middle hours you cannot control. Make room for God at both ends of the day, and watch ordinary time become holy ground. [09:57]

Psalm 139:1–3: Lord, You have examined me completely; You notice my getting up and my lying down; You understand my thoughts and are familiar with every step and every pause—every hour of my day is in Your sight.

Reflection: Choose a time and place for tonight—what brief, specific practice (for example, reading a psalm aloud and a three‑minute prayer) will help you end the day attentive to God?

Day 5: Dream again: faith sees what could be

Followers of Jesus are people who dream—they see what is not yet and imagine what could be if Jesus gets involved. We do not minimize grief, betrayal, or loss; we dare to hope in the middle of them. Lift your eyes toward estranged family, unknown neighbors, and coworkers far from God, and ask for courage to participate in restoration. Faith names a future shaped by Christ’s presence and takes the next small step today. Walk into the coming year with your head up, trusting that with Jesus with you, anything is possible. [15:44]

Hebrews 11:1: Faith is confidence in what we hope for and a steady assurance about realities we cannot yet see.

Reflection: Name one relationship or situation that feels impossible; what single, concrete action will you take this week—an invitation, a note of repentance, a meal, or a prayerful text—to align your steps with the future you’re trusting God to bring?

Sermon Summary

I walked us through the way we tend to pin our hopes to big moments—holidays, milestones—and how real life usually looks more like a path of mountaintops, valley lows, and the long stretch in between. From there, we sat with Psalm 126. Israel had come home from exile and started rebuilding, but the city was a shadow of what it had been. Even so, they testified, “The Lord has done great things for us.” That tension matters: joy and ache, gratitude and longing. It trains the heart to see God in every place on the trail, not just on the peak or at the bottom.

I urged us to practice a sacred kind of remembering: God has been better than we think. When we look back with the Spirit’s help, we find His fingerprints in both hard and beautiful moments—guidance during pressure, unexpected community in loneliness, provision in uncertainty. That posture readies us for the Psalm’s turn: “Restore our fortunes, Lord.” The Negev rains picture sudden, surprising renewal—dead channels running with water, buried seeds waking up. It’s a way of praying, “Do it again here, in me.”

There is always more for God to restore—often on the inside first. I named places He keeps working: forgiveness we still owe, reactions we regret, subtle idols we coddle. I challenged us to enter 2026 not merely with goals but with a hunger to be nearer to Jesus—habits that begin and end our days with Him, letting Scripture and prayer shape both our mornings and our nights.

Finally, we came to the Table. Communion reorients everything: our lives are built on Jesus’ death and resurrection, not on our performance or pain. If He rose, the most stubborn “impossibles” are now in play. That doesn’t minimize grief; it clarifies foundation. On the ground of the cross and the empty tomb, we’re released to dream again—eyes open, hearts steady, hands ready.

Key Takeaways

1. God has been better than we think Looking back with the Spirit’s help reframes the year. Gratitude grows when we trace where God met us in pressure, guided tough decisions, or surprised us with care. This isn’t spin; it’s training our eyes to see what was actually there. Honest remembrance becomes fuel for present faith. [03:29]
2. Ask for desert rains of restoration The Psalm’s Negev image teaches us to pray for sudden renewal where things seem barren. God can fill dead channels and awaken long-buried seeds in a moment, yet He often prepares us through patient sowing. Hold lament and hope together as you ask Him to “do it again” in specific places. Expect surprise, but consent to His timing. [06:57]
3. Let God restore more in you Spiritual arrival is an illusion; love keeps exposing new rooms in our hearts. Forgiveness delayed, reactions unhealed, subtle idols—these are invitations, not condemnations. Aim at closeness to Jesus in 2026, not merely achievements. Small, daily practices create the floor where deeper change can stand. [07:30]
4. Let communion reorient your life The Table pulls our center of gravity back to the cross and empty tomb. Careers, losses, successes—all become secondary to the foundation we stand on. Receiving the bread and cup teaches our hearts where hope actually comes from. We live forward by remembering rightly. [13:08]
5. Dream again because Jesus lives Resurrection faith doesn’t deny pain; it defies finality. If the tomb is empty, then the hardest case is not the last word. Begin asking what might become possible if Jesus touches it—relationships, habits, callings. Hope becomes obedience with imagination. [14:15]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:31] - Holiday hopes and disappointments
[01:34] - Psalm 126: restored fortunes
[02:23] - Return from exile: ruins and ascent
[02:46] - Dream again with God
[03:29] - God has been better than we think
[05:01] - Seeing God in our year
[06:15] - Work unfinished: cry for restoration
[07:30] - More to restore: forgiveness and formation
[08:37] - Aim for 2026: closer to Jesus
[10:24] - Faith for a greater Jerusalem
[13:08] - Communion reorients everything
[14:15] - If the tomb is empty, hope
[16:12] - Communion and benediction

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading
- Psalm 126

Observation questions (read Psalm 126 aloud first)

What images of restoration and emotion does the psalmist use in verses 1–3 (laughter, shouts of joy, dreaming)? How do those images shape the community’s witness to the nations? [01:34]
The psalm moves from celebrating what the Lord has done to crying out, “Restore our fortunes, Lord.” What specific change in tone or focus do you notice at that turn, and why might the author ask for renewal after already praising God? [06:15]
The psalm was sung on the way up to Jerusalem even though the city and temple were only shadows of their former selves. What does singing this song of ascent reveal about how the community holds praise and lament together? [02:23]
The psalm says, “we were like those who dream.” What does dreaming look like for a people who’ve returned from exile but still face ruins? Where in the psalm does hope feel realistic rather than naïve? [02:46]

Interpretation questions (third‑person, objective)

What does the claim “God has been better than we think” imply about how a person should interpret both painful memories and joyful ones when looking back on a year? [03:29]
How should the image of desert rains (dead channels running with water; buried seeds waking up) shape a believer’s expectations for restoration—should one expect sudden reversal, patient growth, or both? [06:57]
If spiritual “arrival” is an illusion and there is always “more to restore,” how should that reshape a person’s goals for spiritual growth next year (for example, aiming for closeness rather than checklist achievements)? [07:30]
How does the Lord’s Supper function as an ongoing reorientation of hope and identity—what does it mean in practice to “proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes again”? [12:11]

Application questions (specific, personal)

Pick one hard moment from this past year. Where can you now see God’s presence, guidance, or provision in that moment? Be concrete about one small memory or sign you can point to. [05:01]
Name one place inside you that likely needs more of God’s restoration (for example: a person you haven’t forgiven, a recurring reaction, an idol of comfort). What one small, daily habit could you try for six weeks to invite that healing? [07:30]
Imagine ending next year closer to Jesus than you are now. What two simple practices could you commit to for the next 30 days (one for morning, one for night) to begin that shift? Be specific about timing and format. [08:57]
Who is one person, family, or situation you will ask God to bring “desert‑rain” renewal to this year? What is one concrete first step you can take this week to partner in that prayer (call, visit, send a note, fast, give)? [06:57]
Take a specific worry or decision you’re facing. How does building your life on the cross and the empty tomb change the way you approach that choice? Identify one tangible change in posture or action you will take because of that reorientation. [13:08]
Name one “dream” you feel afraid to name but would dare to ask for if Jesus is alive. What is the smallest next step you can take in the next seven days toward that dream? [15:44]

Sermon Clips

And I think that's honestly oftentimes how life is, right?Like we tend to have these moments ahead that we build up, we think are going to be great.But actually most of life is mountaintops, valley lows, and somewhere on my way up or on my way down.And I actually think the healthiest way for us to look at life is to understand that.Because the more I understand that, the more I see Jesus in every moment and every day.Not just in these high highs or not when I'm just at my lowest low, but that God is with me in all of that. [00:00:56] (31 seconds) #GodInEveryMoment

What it was is as they went up the mountain to Jerusalem, they would sing these songs.And so they are even headed back up to this holy city that's a shadow of what it once was.Nehemiah says the old men fall to their knees and weep and realize the temple will never be what it was at that time.But there's this beautiful thing, right, that we still are saying when God restored our fortunes, what we started to dream again.We started to believe that anything was possible.God still has something inside of their heart to realize that no matter what kind of moment they were in, they could dream again with God. [00:02:29] (37 seconds) #DreamAgainTogether

I believe today, wherever this video finds you, wherever you find yourself listening to this message, if God is in it, you can dream again.I know that the reality of a group of people like this, there were all kinds of years that were had in 2025.But I want to begin by telling you this, and it's something I've tried to build my life on.God has been better than we think.God has been better than we think. [00:03:07] (28 seconds) #GodIsBetterThanWeThink

God has this frustrating habit for me that as soon as I think I've arrived, there's someone new for me to forgive. I'm like, God, I've totally figured this out. And he's like, well, no, actually, you didn't forgive this person yet. And you reacted this way to your kids this year. And you're still kind of holding on to this idol in your life. And God's all, I'm always like, yes, God, I arrived. And he's like, no, there's more I've got to restore in you. There's more that I want to do in you. [00:07:21] (28 seconds) #MoreToRestore

And maybe another reflection point in this message, God, what would you want to do with my life in 2026? I am one of those people where I am the annoying New Year's resolution person. I really love goals. I love diets and challenges and new hobbies and all of these things. And I got to just be really honest with you. I don't know exactly what 2026 will hold for my family. I've got some hopes. I've got some dreams. I've got some vision. But I think that all of us together as a community could say, what if next year, this time, I could say that I'm closer to Jesus then than I am now? [00:07:48] (39 seconds) #CloserToJesus2026

It's easy for them to say, man, we got this temple back. We got the wall back. But something erupts in him that says, but God, this is not as good as I know it can be. God, I know that there's more out there. God, I know you could do more. God, there's more in my life, man. God, there's people I need to forgive. There's people I can help. There's neighbors I don't know. There's family members I've been estranged from. There's coworkers that don't know Jesus yet. My kids, all of these things. God, I believe you could do it again. [00:10:13] (28 seconds) #GodCanDoMore

No, what Paul is saying is that followers of Jesus, this adjustment gets made in our hearts that says,no, everything about my life is built on the foundation of Jesus' death and resurrection.He's saying that, hey, don't get it twisted, guys.When we get focused on the work that you're doing, the career you have, the family you're building, he's saying communion is this thing the church has done for 2,000 years that reorients me to say, no, everything I have, God, is built upon this foundation of what you did. [00:12:48] (38 seconds) #BuiltOnChrist

And it takes faith from being this thing we learn about in a book or if you've been around church for a while to say, no, this is Jesus born to the Virgin Mary in the line of the King David. Lived 30 sinless years on earth, shows up on the scene, opens the prophet Isaiah and says, in your hearing this has been fulfilled. I have come that the blind may see, that the lame may walk, that the dead may live. [00:13:26] (30 seconds) #JesusIsFulfillment

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