I know a lot of people won’t admit it, and I honestly don’t
want to either, but there is a voice in my head that I constantly try to push
back. I ignore it and order it to flee, however when the sun says its goodbyes
for the day and my head reunites with the pillow after a long day of school, my
mind runs away before I can catch it and cage it again.
No, I am not talking about dreams, this is something more
harmful than that. I am talking about a weapon God gave me to wield for His
kingdom, but instead I have handed it over the enemy to use against me however
he pleases. This weapon I am talking about is my imagination.
I believe that a lot of people secretly hope to have an
adventure and I’ll be first to admit that. We look at exciting television shows
or read thrilling novels where the main character who had a previous dull life
is spirited away into a world of adventure where they embark on an epic journey.
Even if we don’t admit it, we hope that one day we ourselves
will also be spirited away from our mediocre lives. We want to be thrown into a
story, an adventure where we are that one girl or boy who’s not the brightest, or the
prettiest, or the bravest but will board an expedition all our own. We, however,
don’t see that day coming soon so in the meantime we keep our heads in the
clouds.
We squander all the precious time God blessed us with and
run fantasies of that life through our minds. This is dangerous and it is a trap
I have been tangled in many times.
Instead of focusing on where God has me now, I look to the
future when I will be older, wiser, in college, and well on my way to
vocational ministry. That however is a terrible place to live for so many
reasons:
1.
Tomorrow isn’t promised to me
a.
I could die before I even finish writing this
post and all my hope would have been in the future me, not the me God has right
now.
2.
I look at that future and forget the fact that
that future will take time
a.
A godly woman doesn’t just rise out of bed one
day; she is grown. I long to be wiser but that’s not going to happen
automatically, I must go through the growing process like everyone else.
3.
I neglect the now
a.
If my mind is always living in two years from
now, I am not focusing on the mission field God has placed me in (my home,
school, and church).
4.
It sets me up for disappointment
a.
Isaiah 55:8-9 For my
thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways
my ways, declares the Lord. For as the
heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways
higher than your ways and my thoughts than your
thoughts.
b.
Proverbs 16:9 The heart
of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
c.
What I dream of is 99% likely not to happen. That’s a fact I’ve learned the hard way these sixteen years on the earth. To
borrow the proverbial term, my life never goes according to plan. (I have found
that that is always best.) When I live in a fantasy world, I am always
expecting something to happen (like I have the best first day of school) and
when it doesn’t I am left in tears.
The last reason I feel is the most important:
5.
These fantasies, even if they’re good things,
always focus on me. And I am not the star of the Story
a.
In the words of John the Baptist: John
3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
In reality, there is a story going on that is more exciting
than anything I can make up in my mind or read in a book. It’s His story. The
story of Jesus coming down to earth to die for my- our sins. I could live in a fantasy
world all day, but would be missing the point of life: Jesus. There is nothing
more exciting than living a story where my King is the main character, the
hero.
The fact that my head usually lives in the clouds is a good
thing. That’s where God wants it. (Colossians 3:2 Set your
minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.) He just wants
my mind to be on Him because I am His.
Colossians 3:1 If then you have been
raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at
the right hand of God.
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