When Dreams Die….Or Do They?

Thursday, November 01, 2012 Posted by Debbie Legg

A couple of years ago I discovered I have a passion and a talent for playing drums. Why God waited until I was in my 40s to reveal that to me I don’t know. I also don’t know why He waited until I developed a chronic neck condition that could severely limit my ability to play (and, should it worsen, possibly end whatever “career” I may have).

It almost seems cruel—give a girl a dream she never could have imagined and then snatch it away before she has a chance to live it. At least, that’s what it looks like on the surface. But, that’s not how God works.

This neck condition affects everything that brings me life, from dancing to kayaking to writing to drumming to snuggling with my fellas. That makes me believe there is a spiritual warfare component to it. Jesus said, “You shall know them by their fruit,” and this is some rotten fruit. I do not take kindly to the Enemy messing in my life. I am fighting to live this dream.

And so, after much prayer, a year-long break from lessons and therapy/pain medicines/ exercises/massages/etc, I have started taking lessons again. I will be smart and cautious but I WILL continue to follow this God-given dream wherever He takes it.

And if the day comes that I can no longer play? Am I prepared for that possibility?

I believe I am. You see, I know that THIS IS NOT ALL THERE IS. To paraphrase CS Lewis, this life is only the cover and the title page of the Great Story which goes on forever and in which every chapter is better than the one before.*

If I had to give them up tomorrow, yes, I would grieve, but I would also rejoice that this is only a temporary setback. My dream will come true. I will be playing drums for eternity. (Don’t think so? Read “Heaven” by Randy Alcorn.)

And be it in this life or the next, I fully intend to praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. (Psalm 150:5)

*From the last paragraph in “The Last Battle: Book Seven in The Chronicles of Narnia”