One downside to being a dreamer is that when life doesn't match up with my dreams, I can end up disappointed. I build something up in my head, and it's just never the same seeing it play out in the real world. On the flip side, planning things and dreaming dreams helps me to pinpoint what I want. And if it doesn't work out... well, at least I've had the joy of living it in my dreams!
My now-healthy attitude toward my dreams is not one that everyone shares. Some people don't realize how dangerous it can be to focus on your dreams and not the dream-maker and -fulfiller: God! As one example, look at the people who crucified Christ. In this Easter season, I'm struck again by how differently people back then viewed Jesus and his death. Back then, Jesus was a guy whose only credentials included a carpentry background and a borderline scandalous birth. He wasn't from a great part of the country. As one man said, "Can anything good come from there?" (John 1:46). He did miracles, sure, but that must have been rather off-putting as well. What if someone challenged everything you believed about your religion (and everything your family had believed for thousands of years) and then healed a blind man? I'd be scared out of my mind! Power up close is scary, and when it comes from a man who speaks against some of the most common and cherished practices of my religion... anyway, Jesus was just NOT what people expected. He was not a king, he was not a typical religious leader, he did not walk around with a halo and a perpetual spotlight. His clothes got dirty and he cried. He probably smelled bad sometimes. And then he died. I can picture the despair. I can picture people wincing as they felt that nasty little twisting inside that you feel when your hopes are crushed. They thought... just maybe... that he actually was the Christ. But then he died. And now they were left with all of the "I told you so"s and the misery of knowing that there was nothing to say to disprove them.
We know that Christ did rise. But until Easter, no one knew he would. I guess that's where faith comes in. If you look at the dreams in your life and think they're dead... well, do you trust God to come through or not? Things might not be the way you pictured, but let me say this. For those who love him, God makes ALL things work out for the best. So either your dead dreams aren't as good as what's coming, or they're not dead! Or maybe they're just dead temporarily :) Be encouraged and expect the best.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
What you see isn't everything
America sometimes seems to be a nation in which appearance matters more than substance. People have massive houses with rooms they don't even use and beautiful lawns with grass so perfectly manicured that no one is allowed to really play on it. Women buy products to try and look younger and clothes to try and look thinner. Schools pass students from high school who just aren't well-educated so as to prevent messing up their graduation rate.
I'm certainly not immune from being caught up in appearances. I was listening to a song on the radio that was a perfect Viennese Waltz in terms of tempo. I started dancing to it in my head, and daydreaming about how graceful and beautiful I'd be. As I kept thinking about it, I realized that the grace and beauty of ballroom dance is really an illusion. Dancing requires precision, knowledge, and extraordinary effort. Ballerinas ignore blistered and bleeding feet, screaming muscles, sweat, and fatigue to give the audience the impression that they can float like butterflies without even trying.
Sometimes I look at the people I respect most and see the effortless beauty of their lives and ignore all the time and energy they put into all they do. Sometimes I feel like I must be doing something wrong when I feel myself working so hard and see others doing great things with seemingly no trouble at all. I need to remember that there is always more going on behind the scene.
I'm certainly not immune from being caught up in appearances. I was listening to a song on the radio that was a perfect Viennese Waltz in terms of tempo. I started dancing to it in my head, and daydreaming about how graceful and beautiful I'd be. As I kept thinking about it, I realized that the grace and beauty of ballroom dance is really an illusion. Dancing requires precision, knowledge, and extraordinary effort. Ballerinas ignore blistered and bleeding feet, screaming muscles, sweat, and fatigue to give the audience the impression that they can float like butterflies without even trying.
Sometimes I look at the people I respect most and see the effortless beauty of their lives and ignore all the time and energy they put into all they do. Sometimes I feel like I must be doing something wrong when I feel myself working so hard and see others doing great things with seemingly no trouble at all. I need to remember that there is always more going on behind the scene.
Friday, April 6, 2012
The waiting game can be fun
Having worked with kids of all ages for over half my life, I feel that I've learned a lot about them, though I am often struck by how much more I have to learn! One major thing I've learned about kids is that they are all different. Some like bananas, some hate bananas; some like Barney, some are scared of him; some smile a lot, some cry a lot etc., etc. It's always interesting for me to see how different kids react to being left by their parents in the church nursery. Some kids stare blankly at the door and refuse to move. Some burst into tears and run to me for comfort. Some begin kicking and screaming and refuse to let me help them. Some don't even seem to notice. While the kids react differently, one thing is always the same. Whether the kid likes it or not, Mom and Dad are not returning until a set time. The kid could be happy or miserable; it doesn't change anything except how good a time the child has. Being sad is not going to make the parents come back sooner, and being happy is not going to somehow keep them away. After all, it's not as if a parent would come to pick up his/her child, see the little one playing happily and say, "oh, good! I guess I can just go on home, since Jamie's so happy here." No! The parent will not leave without that child, regardless of the child's attitude about the whole experience. It's the same with God and us. God has every intention of giving us all we need to live and even what we need to be happy! (Matt. 6:31 and 33, Matt. 7:11, Psalm 37:4) But God makes everything happen in HIS time, not ours. Whether we sit around sulking or have a wonderful time where we are, God will bring us his good gifts at the perfect time. Our attitude toward waiting changes nothing for him and everything for us.
Monday, April 2, 2012
How does your garden grow?
One thing I appreciate about God is his willingness to speak to us on our level. God is desperate for our attention, and will use whatever he can to get it. The Bible is full of parables explaining the greatness of God through ordinary things, stories Jesus told to his followers. For us today, we don't have Jesus in person to speak with us, but we do have a book to convey God's message. The Bible makes it clear that Jesus was the Word (John 1:1) and Jesus is also God. Knowing the Word (the Bible), is knowing Jesus, which is knowing God (John 14:7). But if Hooked on Phonics didn't work for you or if you just don't have access to a Bible, God can and will still try to draw your attention to him. Romans 1:20 says that we are "without excuse" because we can see God "through what has been made." Walk outside and watch a sunset. Look at baby animals. Smell the flowers. See the tiny veins in each and every leaf. God's handiwork is amazing, and God uses what he's made to reach his favorite creation... you!
Speaking of nature, I was speaking to a friend about sowing and reaping the other day. Galatians 6:7 says that "A man reaps what he sows." In other words, what goes around comes around. What you do in life has results. In much the same way, the effort that you put into your relationship with God will directly affect how close you are to him. I remember God telling me my freshman year that I had to "pull the weeds to plant the seeds." It took me a while to puzzle out what he meant, but when I got it, it made so much sense. Think about trying to plant a garden. You can't just sprinkle seeds at random in your back yard and expect to get a great harvest. No, first you have to till the soil. If you don't know what that means, lucky you. My parents had a decent sized garden when I was little. Looking back, there's no way it could be as monstrous as I remember, but I distinctly remember the exhausting, dirty work of digging up all the grass to expose the soil, picking up all the rocks, and then churning up the earth so it was a welcoming environment for the little seeds I then planted. It was hot and boring. And hard! But necessary to get a good harvest.
If you want a good relationship with God, you have to expect to do work. You can't just sprinkle a little Bible, a little prayer, and a little worship into your life and expect to come up with a massive harvest! You have to rip up the things that used to be in your life to make way for what God wants to do. It's a constant process. The weeds will always fight for space in your life; they will always try to choke out what you put so much effort into planting. If you give up and get lazy, you will find that your task only gets tougher and tougher. The roots of the weeds will just get deeper and deeper and you will find yourself overwhelmed. The initial seed-planting is only the beginning. But keep at it and wait patiently. A good garden yields nourishment and a beautiful fragrance that draws people in. And when they come, you'll have plenty to share; enough that they can take seeds from the harvest to plant their own gardens.
Speaking of nature, I was speaking to a friend about sowing and reaping the other day. Galatians 6:7 says that "A man reaps what he sows." In other words, what goes around comes around. What you do in life has results. In much the same way, the effort that you put into your relationship with God will directly affect how close you are to him. I remember God telling me my freshman year that I had to "pull the weeds to plant the seeds." It took me a while to puzzle out what he meant, but when I got it, it made so much sense. Think about trying to plant a garden. You can't just sprinkle seeds at random in your back yard and expect to get a great harvest. No, first you have to till the soil. If you don't know what that means, lucky you. My parents had a decent sized garden when I was little. Looking back, there's no way it could be as monstrous as I remember, but I distinctly remember the exhausting, dirty work of digging up all the grass to expose the soil, picking up all the rocks, and then churning up the earth so it was a welcoming environment for the little seeds I then planted. It was hot and boring. And hard! But necessary to get a good harvest.
If you want a good relationship with God, you have to expect to do work. You can't just sprinkle a little Bible, a little prayer, and a little worship into your life and expect to come up with a massive harvest! You have to rip up the things that used to be in your life to make way for what God wants to do. It's a constant process. The weeds will always fight for space in your life; they will always try to choke out what you put so much effort into planting. If you give up and get lazy, you will find that your task only gets tougher and tougher. The roots of the weeds will just get deeper and deeper and you will find yourself overwhelmed. The initial seed-planting is only the beginning. But keep at it and wait patiently. A good garden yields nourishment and a beautiful fragrance that draws people in. And when they come, you'll have plenty to share; enough that they can take seeds from the harvest to plant their own gardens.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)