Isn't it wonderful that we each get to fight our own battles, climb unique mountains, acquire our own scrapes and bruises and then watch as our wounds slowly turn into wicked cool scars over the years that tell the story of how our hearts have grown, conquered, loved, lost, loved again and been made new, fashioned with even more beauty and depth of character?
I am beside myself with how the Lord has been my helper and friend and held my hand through it all. Following Jesus is worth it. It's absolutely everything.
But here's the thing. Learning to trust the Lord with what is MOST precious to you is the best thing you will ever do for yourself, aside from making the decision to follow Jesus. Because let me tell you something: Your hearts desires are a beautiful thing, and God thinks so too. I don't think I had let myself fully believe that until my friend recently spoke it to me during a long phone call. I'm still having to consciously choose to embrace that truth. But when she said it, I instantly realized I had been believing a lie: subconsciously I had let the unmet dreams in my heart and my experience with disappointment cause me to feel that the things I longed for most were perhaps selfish desires and that I should learn to let go of them. WRONG. Because the most beautiful truth is that when people quote the bible in saying "God has better plans for you than you could ever plan for yourself", that DOESN'T mean "boring, lofty, disconnectedly sovereign, it's my way or the highway, so you might as well prepare yourself for disappointment" kind of plans. Instead it actually means MORE GOOD. Like actually MORE BEAUTIFUL. And ABSOLUTELY BEYOND YOUR WILDEST DREAMS. God is actually STOKED on our hearts desires because he created us and loves us and legitimately takes delight in us! And he WANTS us to dream big!
He wants us to trust him enough to surrender to him all of our dreams and our desires to the point that it scares the crap out of us, and THEN to surrender that fear to him and replace it with trust.
Because he ONLY has plans to prosper us. He watches us closely and is very interested in the desires of our hearts. And he's working out plans that incorporate both the details of our dreams and his own unique design. God has the biggest and most beautiful imagination. He is the author of love itself and therefor writes the best love stories. He is creative and funny and will surprise you with what he has planned for you. But it all hinges on trust, and your belief. You gotta let go of that iron grip and start to breath a little. His plans aren't boring or stoic or less fun. They're filled to the brim with beauty and imagination and laughter and joy overflowing. Because that's who God is. He's not holding out on you. He's waiting for you to stop holding out on HIM. Open up your hands. Trust him. He's good.
"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change" -James 1:17
-He is unchangeably good. He can't not be good and he can't not have good intentions toward us.
"But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him" - 1 Corinthians 2:9
BOOM.
Also Isaiah 55:8-13.
Sorry for the 2am rants. I actually had planned to go to bed early tonight and then accidentally spent 2 hours writing this blog instead. I love you all and I hope you have hope tonight as you fall asleep. You're allowed to hope. You're allowed to dream. You matter. And your desires matter to God. He loves you. You are loved.
Goodnight.
xx
I am beside myself with how the Lord has been my helper and friend and held my hand through it all. Following Jesus is worth it. It's absolutely everything.
But here's the thing. Learning to trust the Lord with what is MOST precious to you is the best thing you will ever do for yourself, aside from making the decision to follow Jesus. Because let me tell you something: Your hearts desires are a beautiful thing, and God thinks so too. I don't think I had let myself fully believe that until my friend recently spoke it to me during a long phone call. I'm still having to consciously choose to embrace that truth. But when she said it, I instantly realized I had been believing a lie: subconsciously I had let the unmet dreams in my heart and my experience with disappointment cause me to feel that the things I longed for most were perhaps selfish desires and that I should learn to let go of them. WRONG. Because the most beautiful truth is that when people quote the bible in saying "God has better plans for you than you could ever plan for yourself", that DOESN'T mean "boring, lofty, disconnectedly sovereign, it's my way or the highway, so you might as well prepare yourself for disappointment" kind of plans. Instead it actually means MORE GOOD. Like actually MORE BEAUTIFUL. And ABSOLUTELY BEYOND YOUR WILDEST DREAMS. God is actually STOKED on our hearts desires because he created us and loves us and legitimately takes delight in us! And he WANTS us to dream big!
He wants us to trust him enough to surrender to him all of our dreams and our desires to the point that it scares the crap out of us, and THEN to surrender that fear to him and replace it with trust.
Because he ONLY has plans to prosper us. He watches us closely and is very interested in the desires of our hearts. And he's working out plans that incorporate both the details of our dreams and his own unique design. God has the biggest and most beautiful imagination. He is the author of love itself and therefor writes the best love stories. He is creative and funny and will surprise you with what he has planned for you. But it all hinges on trust, and your belief. You gotta let go of that iron grip and start to breath a little. His plans aren't boring or stoic or less fun. They're filled to the brim with beauty and imagination and laughter and joy overflowing. Because that's who God is. He's not holding out on you. He's waiting for you to stop holding out on HIM. Open up your hands. Trust him. He's good.
"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change" -James 1:17
-He is unchangeably good. He can't not be good and he can't not have good intentions toward us.
"But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him" - 1 Corinthians 2:9
BOOM.
Also Isaiah 55:8-13.
Sorry for the 2am rants. I actually had planned to go to bed early tonight and then accidentally spent 2 hours writing this blog instead. I love you all and I hope you have hope tonight as you fall asleep. You're allowed to hope. You're allowed to dream. You matter. And your desires matter to God. He loves you. You are loved.
Goodnight.
xx
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBeautifully written ❤️ And something else I find so precious is that we often overlook or don't even realize is that the dreams and desires that we have have been put and placed in our hearts by him- from the moment we took our first breath he knew what our dreams would grow to be.
ReplyDeletePerfect. And so true. It is in our nature to want to control and take care of things on our own but yes...what you wrote. Thanks for writing it!
ReplyDeleteI've had this blog post up on my phone for a month now, but hadn't had a chance to read it yet. This morning as I was eating breakfast, instead of the usual C. S. Lewis letters with breakfast habit, I thought, "Eh, why not Christie's blog today?"
ReplyDeleteDang, girl. Thanks for the encouragement. I think I'm gonna go fight some dragons today, and do the cool dream stuff God has made me desire to do! Thanks for your awesome post; you and your family are such an amazing inspiration and hope-spurring bunch, in music, life, Instagram pics, and words. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Christie! :)
I've had this blog post up on my phone for a month now, but hadn't had a chance to read it yet. This morning as I was eating breakfast, instead of the usual C. S. Lewis letters with breakfast habit, I thought, "Eh, why not Christie's blog today?"
ReplyDeleteDang, girl. Thanks for the encouragement. I think I'm gonna go fight some dragons today, and do the cool dream stuff God has made me desire to do! Thanks for your awesome post; you and your family are such an amazing inspiration and hope-spurring bunch, in music, life, Instagram pics, and words. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Christie! :)