When Your Dreams Fall Apart: How God Meets You in the Middle
Are you in the middle of a broken dream right now? Wondering if God sees you, if healing will ever come, or if you'll survive this pain? In this episode, discover how God meets you exactly where you are—in the pacing, the tears, the unanswered questions. Learn how your brain creates thought ruts during grief and how God's Word can create new pathways to peace. Your broken places might be exactly where God's light will shine brightest.
What You'll Discover in This Episode:
If You're Living with a Broken Dream Right Now:
You'll learn:
- Why your brain keeps replaying the same painful thoughts (and what you can do about it)
- How to recognize the "thought ruts" that are keeping you stuck in grief
You'll discover:
- That showing up matters—even when you can't feel God's presence yet
- How God uses the "ordinary" (like Sunday worship) to do extraordinary healing work
- Why your breaking might be the beginning of something more beautiful than your original dream
- That healing isn't linear, instant, or neat—and that's okay
- You're not failing because you're still hurting
If You're Wondering If Healing Will Ever Come:
You'll gain hope that:
- God doesn't look at your broken pieces and shake His head in disappointment
- Your service, calling, or purpose isn't over just because this dream died
- Time + God's presence = transformation (even if it takes 26 years)
- The cracks in your story might become the most beautiful part
- God is doing Kintsugi work in your life right now—filling your broken places with His gold
If You Need to Remember God's Faithfulness:
You'll be reminded:
- God was faithful in your past—even when you couldn't see it at the time
- To look back and notice where He met you in your wilderness
- That He's been rewriting your thought patterns through His Word all along
- Your story isn't finished yet—God is still making all things new
- The places where you felt most broken are now where you have the most compassion for others
This Episode Is For You If:
✓ You're grieving a ministry dream that didn't turn out the way you hoped ✓ You've experienced church hurt and wonder if you'll ever heal ✓ You're stuck in thought spirals about what you "should have" done differently ✓ You feel like a failure because your calling looked different than you planned ✓ You're exhausted from trying to hold everything together ✓ You need permission to grieve without rushing to "get over it" ✓ You're wondering if God can still use broken people (spoiler: He specializes in it) ✓ You're pacing your own kitchen table right now, processing pain too big for words ✓ You need to hear that you're not alone in the messy middle
What Makes This Episode Different:
This isn't about:
- Quick fixes or 3 easy steps to healing
- Pretending everything's fine when it's not
- Spiritual bypassing your real pain
- Comparison (her healing vs. your timeline)
This IS about:
- God's patient, faithful presence in the long journey
- Permission to be human while trusting God
- Real tools (thought work, Be Still prayer, Scripture) that help
- Honest faith that makes room for grief AND hope
- Remembering you're God's beloved daughter, even in the breaking
You'll Walk Away With:
🧠 Understanding of how your brain works:
- How "thought ruts" form and why they feel so permanent
- How God's Word literally rewires your neural pathways
- Tools to recognize when you're spiraling vs. when you're healing
💎 The Kintsugi Perspective:
- What this Japanese art teaches about redemption
- Why your cracks don't need to be hidden
- How breaking and mending are part of your story, not failures in your story
- Permission to see beauty in what feels ruined
🙏 Practical Prayer Tools:
- The Be Still Prayer using God's name "Yahweh Rafa" (The God Who Heals)
- How to receive what God offers when you don't feel worthy
- Where to find God when you can't sense His presence
- How to sit with grief without letting it become your identity
📖 Scripture That Anchors:
- Psalm 147:3 - "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds"
- How to let God's Word create new pathways when old thoughts won't stop
- Why showing up to receive His gifts matters (even when you can't feel it working)
Your Reflection Journey:
As you listen, consider these questions:
About Your Story:
- What dream are you grieving right now?
- What thought ruts has your brain created about what happened?
- Where have you been pacing your own "kitchen table"?
About God's Presence:
- Looking back, where was God meeting you when you couldn't feel Him?
- What "ordinary" places has He used to do extraordinary healing work in your life?
- Where are you receiving His gifts right now (worship, communion, His Word)?
About Your Future:
- What if your broken dream isn't the end of your story—just the middle?
- What if the cracks are exactly where God's light will shine brightest?
- What new thing might God be making that you can't see yet?
Here's the Truth You Need to Hear:
Your broken dream doesn't mean:
- ❌ You failed
- ❌ God is disappointed in you
- ❌ Your calling is over
- ❌ Something's wrong with you
- ❌ You should have done it differently
- ❌ You're too broken to be used
Your broken dream might mean:
- ✓ God is doing something you can't see yet
- ✓ The gold is being prepared for your cracks
- ✓ Your most compassionate ministry is being birthed through your pain
- ✓ You're learning to trust instead of control
- ✓ Your story is becoming one only you can tell
- ✓ You're exactly where God can meet you most intimately
What Happens Next:
After you listen to this episode, you might:
- Feel seen and less alone in your grief
- Have language for what you've been experiencing ("thought ruts!")
- Notice where God has been present all along
- Feel permission to grieve without shame
- Have hope that healing is possible (even if it takes time)
- Want to look at your own story through the Kintsugi lens
- Feel ready to receive what God is offering you today
Take the Next Step:
If this episode resonates with you:
📧 Book a Free 50-Minute Coaching Session You don't have to walk through this alone. In our time together, we'll:
- Explore the thought patterns keeping you stuck
- Discover where God is meeting you right now
- Create practical tools using God's Word to build new neural pathways
- Hold space for your grief while moving toward hope
These sessions alone have helped so many women. [Schedule here: Link]
A Note from Michelle:
Friend, if you're listening to this episode in the middle of your own broken dream—while you're pacing your kitchen table, crying in your car, or wondering if you'll survive this—I want you to know:
You're not alone. God sees you. Your dream falling apart doesn't mean YOU'RE falling apart. The cracks are where the light gets in.
I've been where you are. I know that soul-deep exhaustion of holding everything together. I know what it's like to wonder if God is even there when your prayers aren't answered the way you begged.
And I can tell you from 26 years on the other side: He was there. He is here. He's doing Kintsugi work in your life right now, even if you can't see it yet.
Your broken places are becoming your most beautiful.
With love and hope for your journey, Michelle
Featured Scripture:
Psalm 147:3 - "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."
Revelation 21:5 - "I am making all things new."
2 Corinthians 12:9 - "My power is made perfect in weakness."
About Peace in His Presence:
This podcast is a space where we pause together, take a deep breath, and rest in the truth of who God is and who we are in Him. Each episode walks through God's Word and real stories of His redemption, learning how to be still, notice His presence, and live from His promised joy.
Your host, Michelle Diercks, is a Christian life coach, speaker, and author passionate about helping women move from anxiety to peace, from control to trust, and from broken dreams to beautiful purpose. Currently completing Master Coach certification, Michelle integrates faith, neuroscience, and practical tools for transformation.
