echoes of redemption

You used to dream.

There were big ideas of what you would do in life. Massive problems in the world you could fix. Huge steps you could take that would make a difference for the future.

Then life set in.

And what was once a future-orriented mind got derailed onto the new path of survival. Bills to pay. A house to keep clean. Television to watch. Apps to download.

Before you knew it, you had dismissed your dreams as idealistic youth.

But  what if that’s why so much in the world needs to be changed?

What if realizing your dream is the plan God has to fix the problem you see no one else taking care of?

What if you brought every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ? What could he do with your dreams?

You used to dream. And if you can recapture that, you just might change the world.

A few years ago I read an article about a high school quarterback whose team had never lost a game since he started playing with them. He was about to enter his senior year… and he was miserable.

The pressure of what a loss might mean weighed so heavy on him that winning had no joy – just relief.

If a business builds its identity around always having brilliant products, then every product has to be incredible. If something is even ordinary, the stock prices will fall.

If a pastor builds his entire framework of God around a glitzy smile and the show of God’s financial blessing, he has to deliver that smile every week – and he has to show his own, and the church’s, financial blessing (even in the midst of a recession). Or God no longer exists.

The problem of course is that the world isn’t built to operate in any of these ways.

We will lose a few games.

It takes a mountain of ordinary products to hone in on that one that will revolutionize the world.

Following Christ is just as much about sacrifice and contentment in every situation as it is about blessing.

Which is why humility is so important.

In humility, my own success and failure are no longer the objects of focus.

My attitude is central. Because knowing a God bigger than failure and more precious than success redefines me.

My reactions are central. Because I’m called to live as a representation of what this God would look like on Earth.

And all of the sudden it becomes clear what my role is in a world that isn’t about me.

And the pressure to win, all the time, every day, is gone.

And I am slave to nothing.

It’s been one of my goals over the past six months to find beauty.

It’s easy to be critical.

To make fun of other people’s actions. Things. Looks.

Harder to find beauty everywhere.

Twitter actually made me aware of this. There are two pastors that I follow – they are both extremes. One is negative, judgmental and finds beauty only in the work of his own hands. (And it’s heartbreaking.)

The other finds beauty everywhere. He takes pictures of art, people, his kids – and brags about them. He tells people what stirs his heart to be more like God. (And it’s inspiring.)

So watching them made me very aware of my heart. And it challenged me to think about how I not only talk about, but also perceive the world.

Because there is beauty everywhere.

And when I begin to understand and embrace that, I get to partake a little in the divine. To experience life like I was designed to experience it. To embrace the diversity of a God so much bigger than myself.

And it’s beautiful.