That's part of the way you deal with broken dreams.
Several years ago I was back at Baylor University, my alma mater in Texas, speaking to students. One of my student hosts was a fun-loving young man whom I had come to like very much. I was sitting next to him in the backseat of a small car as the student committee drove me back to the airport in Dallas. When I accidentally hit his leg with my foot, I apologized.
"Oh, that's okay," he said, "I didn't feel a thing. It's not a real leg." I looked at him quizzically and he proceeded to tell me his story.
In junior high school, he had been an outstanding football player, with dreams of a great college career and then a berth on a professional team. An injury had led to the amputation of both his legs. He thought it would be the end of his world. But the thing that turned it around for him was the loving care of the doctors and nurses in the hospital -- and of his parents as well. "I knew my parents loved me," he said, "but I had never realized how much."
Soon after he healed from the surgery, he was outfitted with artificial limbs. With everybody's help, he quickly adapted to them and learned to walk without aid.
"One of the best things that ever happened to me," he said, "is this fellow over here." He nodded toward his roommate, who was on the other side of him.
The other students laughed and began telling stories about his roommate and their relationship. Their relationship was so strong that the roommate could be playful about his situation. Sometimes the roommate ran off with his artificial leg and made him holler to get them back. Sometimes the roommate tackled him on the campus, bowling him over, and they wrestled and laughed on the grass.
"I'm actually glad it happened," said the student about his double amputation. "If it hadn't, I probably would never have known the love I've discovered -- or the closeness to God it has brought."
That's courage, isn't it -- and devotion and submission?
He could have said, "My dreams have been broken so there must not be a God. I'm going to be an agnostic and go through life with my bitterness for what has happened to me."
But he didn't.
He did what Jesus did.
He kept his faith in God, submitted to the Father's will, and lived with courage.
There isn't a better formula for any of us.