What Do I Really Want?

I always find it difficult compiling a list of suggested presents for my birthday or Christmas.  Not because I can't think of things, but because I can think of too many things and I feel the need to narrow the list down, so as not to look too greedy.

 

It is easy to make a long list of all sorts of frivolous things that I would like. Things which would feel like a treat, because I don't really need them but they're pretty. Or things which I do need, but can't really afford.

 

I find myself asking What do I really want?  

 

Jesus asks us the same thing.

 

John recounts how John the Baptist's followers saw Jesus one day and started following him.

 

"Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, 'What do you want?'”

[John 1:38 NIV]

 

And He asks us the same thing.  What do you want?

To know He exists?  To know He cares?  To know forgiveness?  To be able to forgive?  To feel loved?  To have a new job, or a new car, or a new house?  To have more money?  To move beyond just surviving?

 

Often, we don't know what we really want.  Or we don't want to admit what we really want.  Especially as Christians - sometimes our 'wants' can seem not 'Christian' enough. 

But Jesus sees into the heart of things and He wants us to share our dreams and our desires with Him, regardless of how 'Christian' they might seem.

 

Paul urges us to share our whole hearts with God:

 

"Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done."

[Philippians 4:6 NLT]

 

So, what do you really want?

 

 

 

Beyond Your Wildest Dreams

I would say that I have a pretty wild and vivid imagination. I write stories and have little difficulty creating and imagining a wide range of different situations and scenarios. I find it easy and enjoyable to conjure up new characters.

I find it easy to dream big when it comes to writing.

However, the Bible says that there is one whose imagination far surpasses mine.

"God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!"

[Ephesians 3:20 MSG]

And in the NIV version, this verse tells us that God can do "immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine." His ideas and plans are so far beyond our own that we cannot even comprehend them.

In Isaiah, God declares,

“'My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. 'And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.'"

[Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT]

Even when I stretch my imagination as far as possible, even when I dream the biggest dreams I can think of, God's ideas still outstrip mine.

By miles.

Freefall

I always feel sorry for people who either a) say they don't dream or b) seem to have really dull dreams.  Given that you can do anything in dreams, some people's dreams just seem a bit too much like everyday life.

I like the kind of dreams that couldn't really happen in 'real life'.  Dreams where you fly, or are chased but never get caught.

Or those dreams where you fall and wake up just before you land.

Whilst I don't know that I would ever be brave enough to actually sky-dive, I love the sensation of falling in dreams.

Complete freedom.

Total abandonment.

No strings attached.

God offers us this complete freedom too:

"Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we're a free people - free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds.  And not just barely free, either.  Abundantly free!"  [Ephesians 1:7 MSG]

But in order to experience this freedom, we need to let go of everything we're holding on to.  In the same way that to sky-dive, you have to leave the safety of the plane and trust your parachute, we have to leave the safety of our own understanding and trust God.  Trust what He has said and what He has done.  Trust that it is enough and that we can't add to it with our own efforts. 

We can't put our trust in God and in ourselves.

 "Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own.  Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go."

[Proverbs 3:5 MSG]

 
        "You tell me I've been made free

You give me everything I need to walk in my dreams

You whisper words that free my soul

You're the reason I have hope

You're everything I need and more

You made me

You made me free."

[Dara Maclean, Free]

 

 

You can't freefall if you're still holding on.