My recent dreams have been like chapters from a novel I haven’t read, not scary, not fantastic, just bits of life going on as usual for somebody. Occasionally they contain someone I know, a relative or friend, but most of the time the “cast” are strangers to me.
While I generally recall these dreams when I first awake, I don’t remember much about them after a few minutes. They aren’t disturbing, not even annoying – they just are.
But this past Sunday night as I was preparing to sleep, I asked the Lord to give me something more spiritual, more useful in a dream. And He did.
I was standing in a room in a building, furniture scattered around as if an office was being furnished, the placement of chairs and tables and desks experimented with to get the best arrangement. I was talking to a young man who was…
One idea sparks another. Your writing and God inspired stories touch my soul. They provide wisdom and truth and open up doors. The likes and comments are human features, it’s the words and conversation that stirs my soul.
I oftentimes find myself writing about God’s gifts and calling. It has been a sort of obsession of mine ever since I can remember. And after finding the truth in God’s son, I chased after it even more. And the commercialization of it led to so much dread and defeat. The idol, that thing that you can’t stop thinking about. They are always “situations,” chasing of dreams. I am talking about the gifts and talents you know God gave you. But you think you’re not using them. And your view is so myopic. Because you are a writer, and you are writing right now.
And so through the inspiration of another Spirit-filled writer, Melanie Jean Juneau and her post Ladislav Zaborksy: Imprisoned for His Catholic Art, I came to realize what God had been teaching me all along, don’t let the gift become your master.
I find that us creative types especially oftentimes become prisoners of our gifts. The label of “working” and “full-time” become intertwined with divine desire. I hear this also among the best of friends who hate their jobs and know they are just made for something more “I am suffering, I cannot bear to be here any longer.”
Welcome to the passion of the Christ.
And I love this excerpt from Melanie’s post:
“While imprisoned, Ladislav felt as if his hands were nailed to the cross because he could not paint but only seek God in the depths of his soul. .. The result of his inner crucifixion meant he no longer fulfilled his own desires but only sought God and His desires.”
Notice he did not say that he felt crucified because he was imprisoned, but rather he felt crucified because he could not paint. And Paul from Just me Being Curious offered such an eye-opening statement on my last post about forgiveness:
“In the daily readings I have there comes up, from time to time, a suggestion to pray for all those who are prisoners of war around the world. And I always nod – and always wonder: why do we think ourselves free simply because we have a computer, a job, a home and a fine “free” life?”
And Ladislav understood that, and now I do too. We cry out to God because we are still in jobs we don’t like or our talents don’t get us paid. We believe preachers and pastors when they tell us that we have some singular “purpose” or “calling” on our lives that we must continue to seek out day after day. But fear and pain, it is a gentle liar.
There is only one singular purpose for our lives, and that is to glorify the Lord Jesus in all that we are and all that we do. It is not only in our giftings but also our lack thereof. It is in the hug that we give or the conversation that we have. It is in the minutia. God does not believe in minutia. In every second of every day our lives should be a song and a prayer.
Our inner crucifixion is our reconciliation to the creator moment to moment. It is deeper, way deeper than a NY Times Best Seller or any stadium filled with thousands of congregants. You may think that your purpose is to write, and that certainly may be part of God’s plan. But what if that one post or newsletter or even that one text or email changes the course of life for someone else? It certainly will not make you money or allow you to quit your day job, but it will lead you closer to understanding the role of the creator.
That thing. That thing you want more than anything. That thing you want so bad. It is consuming you. It is overshadowing God. Let it go and watch it fly away. Die to that moment. And then , only then will you be free.
“that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
1 Samuel 8:20 (NKJV)
Behold him, the name of whose empire is eternal- Mass entrance
We are all looking for our King, I am convinced of that. Our desire is to be free and do what we want, when we want, but soon thereafter we find ourselves craving structure, and form. It’s why we make New Year’s Resolutions, go on diets, make amends and go to confession. And some way, somehow, we are all connected by the sense that we need something more. It is what that “something” is that we make our ultimate King.
Prophets among men have always been extremely unpopular. So unpopular, their message has preceded their untimely death. The message and the mission of prophets is to bring God’s warning and wisdom to those who will listen. But ultimately, they are rejected by the very people who they were sent to preach to.
And so to it was with the prophet Samuel, that his people did not care to listen. Demanding a fleshly King rather than God, the King of the Universe. “We want to be like everyone else,” they said, “We don’t trust in a God that we cannot see.”
The people did not want to fight their battles with God or listen to what the prophet Samuel had to say. But no matter, Samuel had done his job. He had given his warning, he had spoken. But nobody wanted to listen.
And so it is in our own lives. We may have found God, but He’s so last year. We’ve moved on to the next thing. Now it’s about the wisdom of the wind, or whatever is trending. We don’t trust and cannot follow a God we cannot see. We say that we can do whatever we please, but are the first in line to hang onto every word of the next quote coming from the next best thing. Even if you believe in nothing, that is something, and that my friends is your King.
Our views on God are small, minute actually. They are good enough for now. And when God is just not good enough, we cast Him off to the side like an old and worn out pair of shoes. Until of course we need Him again.
I had an old friend come to visit me today. He was seeking answers. What I am supposed to do? He himself had left the throne empty. He wanted God, craved God, but not enough to want to hear my answer. When we do it our way, it just doesn’t seem to work out, and that message is not religious, its universal.
So who or what is the King in your life? What rules your day or even your life? Are you depending on a fleshly King, or could it be that there is something more?
My recent dreams have been like chapters from a novel I haven’t read, not scary, not fantastic, just bits of life going on as usual for somebody. Occasionally they contain someone I know, a relative or friend, but most of the time the “cast” are strangers to me. 
Church Set Free 