Murderers of Dreams

INTRO

Dreams are the fuel of the soul, it’s what moves us, it’s what drives us and make our lives worth living for;

Who doesn’t dream?? We all dream!!

Today, we live the generation of “Youtubers”, “Digital Influencers” and “Coaches”, and people rely on them for everything: health, classes, fashion, sports, politics, religion, diets, entertainment, relationships, hobbies, you name it, they are everywhere!! Everybody is master on something and wants to show you how to “get there”, and to help you to achieve your dreams; so we can all be “successful dreamers”!

But, ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF IT, we also have those who want to crush our dreams, those who are so pessimistic and negatively toxic people who make us to doubt our dreams and even abandon them before trying to live them.

Illustration of when the optimist meets the pessimist

- Optimist says: “Man, the crisis is becoming so serious that we all may have to eat grass to survive!”

The Pessimist answers: “do you think are we gonna have enough for everyone?”

The Bible says that Hannah, a very pious woman from the Old Testament, experienced to live with “murderers of dreams.” Her story is in 1 Samuel:

MAIN TEXT

1 Samuel 1:1–17 RVR95BTO

Hubo un hombre de Ramataim, sufita de los montes de Efraín, que se llamaba Elcana hijo de Jeroham hijo de Eliú, hijo de Tohu, hijo de Zuf, efrateo. Tenía dos mujeres; el nombre de una era Ana, y el de la otra, Penina. Penina tenía hijos, pero Ana no los tenía. Todos los años, aquel hombre subía de su ciudad para adorar y ofrecer sacrificios a Jehová de los ejércitos en Silo, donde estaban dos hijos de Elí: Ofni y Finees, sacerdotes de Jehová. Cuando llegaba el día en que Elcana ofrecía sacrificio, daba a Penina, su mujer, la parte que le correspondía, así como a cada uno de sus hijos e hijas. Pero a Ana le daba una parte escogida, porque amaba a Ana, aunque Jehová no le había concedido tener hijos. Y su rival la irritaba, enojándola y entristeciéndola porque Jehová no le había concedido tener hijos. Así hacía cada año; cuando subía a la casa de Jehová, la irritaba así, por lo cual Ana lloraba y no comía. Y Elcana, su marido, le decía: «Ana, ¿por qué lloras? ¿por qué no comes? ¿y por qué está afligido tu corazón? ¿No te soy yo mejor que diez hijos?». Después de comer y beber en Silo, Ana se levantó, y mientras el sacerdote Elí estaba sentado en una silla junto a un pilar del templo de Jehová, ella, con amargura de alma, oró a Jehová y lloró desconsoladamente. E hizo voto diciendo: «¡Jehová de los ejércitos!, si te dignas mirar a la aflicción de tu sierva, te acuerdas de mí y no te olvidas de tu sierva, sino que das a tu sierva un hijo varón, yo lo dedicaré a Jehová todos los días de su vida, y no pasará navaja por su cabeza». Mientras ella oraba largamente delante de Jehová, Elí observaba sus labios. Pero Ana oraba en silencio y solamente se movían sus labios; su voz no se oía, por lo que Elí la tuvo por ebria. Entonces le dijo Elí: —¿Hasta cuándo estarás ebria? ¡Digiere tu vino! Pero Ana le respondió: —No, señor mío; soy una mujer atribulada de espíritu. No he bebido vino ni sidra, sino que he derramado mi alma delante de Jehová. No tengas a tu sierva por una mujer impía, porque solo por la magnitud de mis congojas y de mi aflicción he estado hablando hasta ahora. —Ve en paz, y el Dios de Israel te otorgue la petición que le has hecho—le dijo Elí.

As we saw in the text, Hannah had a dream, a great desire of being a mother, but she had to face at least 3 murderers of dreams around her, each one with an argument...

Based on Hannah’s experience, our THEME FOR TODAY will be:

MURDERERS OF DREAMS

Podemos decir por definición que ASESINOS DE SUEÑOS SON ABOGADOS DEL FRACASO AJENO, PROMOTORES DE LA NEGATIVIDAD, HERALDOS DE LA DESGRACIA Y DEFENSORES DE LA AUTO-DESTRUICIÓN.

We can say by definition that MURDERERS OF DREAMS ARE THE LAWYERS OF FAILURE, THE PROSECUTORS OF NEGATIVITY, THE HERALDS OF DISGRACE AND DEFENDANTS OF SELF-DESTRUCTION.

SO… WHAT ARE THE ARGUMENTS THEY USE, WHAT ARE THE REASONS THEY GIVE ON WHY WE SHOULD GIVE UP ON OUR DREAMS, ONLY BECAUSE, APPARENTLY, THEY ARE TAKING TOO LONG TO BECOME REALITY?

Their first argument is...

1. RECOMPENSA

PENINNAH - (OTHER WIFE) - “It’s because you serve God!”

NOTE: Brothers and sisters, when a woman wants, she can drive someone crazy! This week me and my wife read something very interesting in the Bible:

Proverbs 19:13 RVR95BTO

Dolor es para el padre un hijo necio y gotera continua las contiendas de la mujer.

This is exactly what Peninnah did constantly to Hannah!!:

“See, you keep sacrificing to your God, and what has He done for you?” and also:

“I do not serve God like you and I have kids, everything goes well with me...”

Nevertheless, Hannah was faithful, she would go to Shiloh (15 miles from Jerusalem) EVERY YEAR, even though her heart did not have joy;

(Does this behavior of Peninnah look familiar?)

Pr. Marcos preached last week on Psalm 115: “Where is your God??”

The idea here is: what is the point of serving a God Who does not help you with your dreams?

Job’s wife is the perfect example of this category: “Curse God and die!”

These people forget that serving the Lord is NOT a bargain, it’s a RELATIONSHIP!

Their second argument...

2. REBELIÓN

ELÍ - (HIGH PRIEST) - “It’s because you are living in sin!”

People are very quick to judge!

The first argument came from her own home, but this came from “the church”...

Job’s FRIENDS were part of this category. As in most cases, they were completely wrong and Job himself had to intercede for them with the Lord;

Eli was also absolutely wrong about Hannah, the truth was, GOD Himself had closed her womb:

1 Samuel 1:5 RVR95BTO

Pero a Ana le daba una parte escogida, porque amaba a Ana, aunque Jehová no le había concedido tener hijos.

This argument can cause people to live a life of guilt and desperation, thinking that their dreams will never be fulfilled because God would be angry at them all the time. That’s a really dangerous argument!

God has His plans, we may not understand it immediately but He KNOWS what He is doing.

And their third argument is...

3. RENDICIÓN

ELKANAH (HUSBAND) - “Give up, enjoy life and let it go!”

These “murderers of dreams” may be closer than you think. In Hannah’s case, they lived under the same roof, and one of them was her own HUSBAND!

In this category, the argument is that once everything is lost anyway, we may as well live a reckless life, distant from God.

Here is where the “handsome Elkanahs” come and say “Am I not better than all your dreams???” I can REPLACE your dreams!! Measure your dreams FOR LESS!!!

Because of that, people who are sometimes really close to the fulfillment of their dreams, get discouraged and give up. (Example below)

ILLUSTRATION NORMAN VINCENT PEALE (BOOK THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING):

His wife Ruth got the manuscripts from the trash, after he could not get a publisher;

“The Power of Positive Thinking” was published in October 1952 and continues to be Peale's most widely read work. It was on the New York Times' best-sellers list for 186 weeks, it’s been translated into 42 languages and sold over 15 million copies.

Transition:

The good news is that Hannah did not give in to any of these arguments, she did not surrender. Instead, she took another route, lets learn what she did, and what she would advice us to do as well:

Her first advice would be:

1. SIGUE ESPERANDO Y CONFIANDO EN EL SEÑOR

Hannah kept worshipping in the House of the Lord - differently than so many of believers do today!

She understood the concept written by prophet Habakkuk:

Habakkuk 2:3 RVR95BTO

Aunque la visión tarda en cumplirse, se cumplirá a su tiempo, no fallará. Aunque tarde, espérala, porque sin duda vendrá, no tardará.

The example of Joseph in Egypt;

ILLUSTRATION ALBERT EINSTEIN

Today, the word ‘Einstein’ is associated with intelligence and synonymous with genius. Yet it is a famous fact that the pioneer of the theory of general relativity, Albert Einstein himself, could not speak fluently until the age of nine. His rebellious nature led to expulsion from school, and he was refused admittance to the Zurich Polytechnic School.

His earlier setbacks did not stop him from winning the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1921. After all, he believed that:

“Success is failure in progress.”

To this day, his research has influenced various aspects of life including culture, religion, art, and many many lives.

Just because you haven’t achieved your dream yet, doesn’t mean you can’t do it.

Keep waiting and trusting in the Lord!!

The second advice would be:

2. AFÉRRATE A LAS PROMESAS DE DIOS

Notice that the first words that Eli used (“You are drunk, you are a sinner”), she did not host in her heart, but the blessings she did!!

Her first cure was emotional, then physical. In Shiloh she believed, in Ramah she received.

It’s time to turn off the TV a little, and hang on to the promises of the Lord. For example, we hear about COVID 24/7! The truth is: World Health Organization does NOT have the final saying, GOD DOES!!

This is NOT about blind optimism, this is about trusting the only God Who keeps His promises, the “God Who is not a man to lie, or son of man that changes its mind!”

The plan the Lord has for you, and all His promises, He will fulfill!!

Jeremiah 29:11 RVR95BTO

Porque yo sé los pensamientos que tengo acerca de vosotros, dice Jehová, pensamientos de paz y no de mal, para daros el fin que esperáis.

The third advice would be, simply:

3. ¡VIVE!

After keeping her trust in the Lord and believing in the promises and blessings of God, Hannah stopped crying and started living!! She began to get ready for her miracle;

I believe she bought new clothes, she put a perfume on and changed her attitude, her mentality! (King David did the same after his baby died)

On that regard, we must learn a lesson from the eagles, the Bible says in Isaiah chapter 40 that “those who wait in the Lord are like the eagles.” Eagles do not hunt in a sloppy way, they have direction, they go after their prey, in direct flights! They have a goal!! That’s why they only eat the best. On the other hand, the birds who keep flying in circles - the vultures (buitres), they only eat what is rotten! (carroña)

Hannah decided to live by faith: she had a very serious conversation with her husband and they decided to enjoy their marriage;

We have many examples in the Bible, that dreams will happen to us, AS WE GO!

Someone said once: “a steering wheel cannot move on a stopped car.”

We have only 2 OPTIONS when it comes to life: Bitterness or Fighting

FINAL APPLICATIONS

We are all together here, but we don’t know each other’s lives that well, you may be in a situation of despair today. Everything failed, and everyone disappointed you, and worse yet, it seems everybody’s dreams come true, but yours!!

Remember: whatever situation you maybe in today, DO NOT LISTEN TO THE MURDERERS OF DREAMS!!

There is ALWAYS a way:

Video MOUSETRAP

A SPECIAL NOTE: Dreams are for everyone, it is a project that God Himself places in our hearts, there is no question about it. If the dreams you have come from the Lord, He will help you to bring them into fruition. HOWEVER, it is necessary to ask Him if maybe we are not holding on to something is not even for us! ASK HIM TO SHOW YOU THE DREAMS HE HAS FOR YOU, BECAUSE THEY ARE MUCH, MUCH BETTER!!

Well, all of us like a “happy ending”, and Hannah certainly had hers: AFTER Samuel was consecrated to serve the Lord with Eli, she was a mother again:

1 Samuel 2:21 RVR95BTO

Visitó Jehová a Ana y ella concibió; y dio a luz tres hijos y dos hijas. Y el joven Samuel crecía delante de Jehová.

Because Hannah did not give up, the Lord blessed her to become the mother of one of the most important characters of the Bible: Samuel, who was a priest, the last judge and the first prophet in Israel after Moses, and his ministry was very, very relevant for at least 20 years! He was the one who helped king Saul throughout his reign and also anointed David as future king of Israel.

All of this, because his mother Hannah dared to believe!

As we finish today, I want to challenge you to:

1. Keep trusting the Lord;

2. Hang on to His promises for your life; and

3. Live, enjoy each opportunity the Lord has given you.

DON’T GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS!!!

Music Ministry - Song “Restitui”;

Let’s pray.