Lately I’ve been contemplating this idea of the standard of living. This generation seems to feed off of living in the ambiguity of mediocrity, of aiming for the expectation level, of drawing satisfaction from just getting by... It seems like we’ve stopped dreaming and have settled for much too short of the fairytale... maybe ending up with the coachman instead of the prince (I’m not advocating that the coachman never get a girl, okay...) But we’ve trained ourselves to think this way so we never get hurt or run the risk of being...ouch...disappointed...
Anyway, this is not exclusive to meeting our ’S.O.’ (significant other). We’ve been conditioned with this capped expectation level in our careers, lifestyles, even friendships...
To an extent, it seems like this generation has been starved of hope and possibility to the point that it’s stopped trying…like that picture of the elephant held in captivity that’s leg is tied up...eventually without even having a rope on his leg, he will still stay in that same place because his mind has been conditioned to think that he is limited.
Well I think there’s a solution... In the Message Bible, it says "Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God....Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you." (Romans 12:2). The world says you’re dreams are a waste of time, but I believe that not only does God want us to rise to a new expectation level, but promises that He’ll give us the stamina to get there (and heighten our maturity along the way).
So I’ve been challenged, and extend this same challenge to you (haha...to all of you, my readers!), to DREAM BIG…to not settle for the hills and valleys of life only to return to the same, worn-out spot, but to up your faith to a higher point and believe that with a little work, a lot of heart, and God, anything is possible.
What standard of living do I dream about for my life? To change the stinkin’ world of course!
4 comments:
I'm always so thrilled to read of your next big adventure...you live your dreams...pull some others with you too, they need to get off their butts and chase some God-given dreams...
We need to RISK! Taking a Faith opportunity offers God the opportunity for miracles, signs, and wonders.... God is in a good mood.
Think about it, most generations and most people dream little, if at all. It is one reason why people love a good story, movie, acheivement, etc... They figure they can never do it themselves. They won't RISK!
The world has crushed them down and it hurts to dream...it is a RISK! It opens oneself to the possibility of pain, sorrow, failure, and disappointment. So people will stay where they are with the pain, sorrow, failure, and disappointment they already know in their life than RISK a chance for God to ROCK THEIR WORLD!
I'm not asking God to guarantee my dreams... I'm asking God for opportunities to grow my faith, and my faith, shapes my dreams more and more in alignment with God and my faith is what dreams are made of...
Yes, DREAM and DREAM BIG is an excellent thing to grab for.... I want my own dreams to be out of reach...so I'll have to stretch as high as I can, then allow God to lift me even higher. I want the Holy Spirit to be poured out over us...prophesizing, having visions, and dreaming dreams...dreaming WITH God!
Love the Message Bible version of Romans 12:2. Don't be sedated by culture, it says essentially. I'm preaching on something similar this coming Sunday, and I'll probably have to steal this insight...
Hey Malia!
Thanks for the encouraging entry! It comes at such a good time because I feel like I'm half-assing everything... feeling like there must be MORE to life than what I'm doing with it right now. :P But you're right, why the heck should we settle for mediocrity when God gives us the stamina to achieve so much more!!
I hear you hang out on campus? I hope to meet you one day!
Gosh i could go on and on about the frustration i feel when it comes to how many excuses we make as a society for falling short... and even worse, for dreaming short... i'm first to say that there are times that i can be selfish, fearful, and sometimes just lazy to aspire, much less inspire the impossibles in life... and yet God is so much greater than the impossibles...and loves of us so much more than to give us ordinary. He's always given me more than i need... so when i fail to dream big, i'm basically saying 'Sorry, God, creator of the world, parter of seas, resurrector of the dead, you're just not capable enough' oh boy, now that's harsh!
Jordan, I'm looking forward to hearing what you preach... i think Keiger gave me a link so I'll download it :)
Kacie, send me an email and we'll have to get together on campus... i'm at malia.parker@everynation.org ...
take care, malia
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