The other night I woke up from a vivid dream. It's unusual for me to dream at all and if I do, it's either directly related to something I'm experiencing (like feeling too warm in a dream because I'm too warm in real life) or it's because I'm under extreme stress. This wasn't like that...
I dreamed that a small crowd of people and I got on a smaller commercial airliner and took probably the shortest flight ever: straight up, level for just a moment, and then straight down to our destination which was not known to any of us. We disembarked and walked into the airport, only to spend our entire trip at the airport gift shop. None of us had specific things we were looking to buy, but all of us were browsing. I settled on some small trinket and brought it to the register to pay. The clerk took my money, and then instead of giving me exact change, handed me a couple thousand dollar bills in return. I looked at her in disbelief which prompted her to point to a sign. It said something to the effect of "every dollar spent earns $1000 in return." With great joy and urgency, I spent the remainder of my time telling others to buy something --anything! Spend everything you have because it's worth it! We walked back onto the airplane with thousands of dollars in each of our pockets. When we arrived home, for each of us the amount was different, but it was exceedingly more than any of us needed to provide for our families. And joy radiated in every household.
I woke up like, "Hmm... that was weird. Totally wish it worked that way though!" I went back to sleep and thought almost nothing of it. And then last night I was journaling and read my entry from the night of the dream. At church that day, we were challenged toward generosity in any outlet God has given you excess and it caused me to ask of the Lord:
"God, how should I be spending my days? How do I honor You with the freedom of my singleness while also living wisely and preparing for the future?... My prayer has been 'God, I will do anything you say. Your servant is listening.' "
And then I had the dream about spending and receiving...
So what does it mean? I don't know for sure-- dream interpretation isn't necessarily a skill set I'd call myself proficient in, and yet, given what I had just prayed, here's my take.
Each of us really only has a short flight and a small crowd that we're permitted to experience in our lives. We don't choose the family of origin, the neighbors, or the socioeconomic classes we are born into. For much of our childhood and teenage years, we don't get a lot of say in where we are going and really, in adulthood, the choices aren't much wider -- they just appear that way. None of us knows for sure that we will find someone to love, be able to have children, remain financially stable in a job that we love, or have healthy children and no economic crisis in our lifetime. It's just not promised. Consider what's happening in the middle east -- the average person most certainly is not in control of that turbulence. Life is short and the promises are few.
We like to think that we get to control what we spend our lives on in the small "gift shop" we find ourselves in, and to some degree that's true. I certainly choose my own groceries, but it's limited based on what's available in that store, this region, or in this country. (Still waiting for Manila mangoes to make their way to MN...) Without the driving force of a greater purpose or a higher calling, we are much like tourists in a gift shop -- just browsing, maybe investing a little, but not really sure if there's something better just down the way. But to buy something is to commit, even if it's just a few dollars. When I bought something in my dream, I fully anticipated that my dollars were gone in equal exchange for the item I received. I committed to financial loss for personal gain.
If I can be totally frank for a second, this is a lot like the exchange of pursuing ministry as a career. Seriously, nobody goes into this looking to get rich and the ones who do usually end up on the news for one reason or another. I knew that when I gave my heart to Jesus and said I would spend my career encouraging others to know Him better that it would likely mean my paychecks would never reach anywhere close to six figures. But I knew it was a worthy investment and that "richness" would show up in other ways. I have no regrets. I have come to deeply love and appreciate my journey through my 20's even though some days it felt like following Jesus was costing me so much more than a good paycheck. A few times it nearly cost me my mental health, physical health, social network, and/or any sense of home or stability... It has NOT been easy to say the least. But I have no regrets. Following Jesus has absolutely been worth the cost.
Why? Because much like the dream, what I've been given in return is so much better and goes so much farther than a paycheck that nothing else compares. Romans 12 tells us that God equips each of us with gifts that are useful for encouraging human flourishing and pointing others to His incredible grace. My spiritual gifts may seem like trinkets. My free time may feel less-than-super-valuable. The elements that make up my life and story may seem mundane to me, but Psalm 139 argues otherwise: "God knew every one of your days before even one of them came to be." Nothing is an accident or a mistake, even if it arrived as a consequence to someone else's mistakes. God is way too big and far too strong to be sneak-attacked and cheated out of His sovereign plans.
In a roundabout way, God clearly answered my question. When I came to know Jesus as a person and not just the dude in all the pictures at my hometown church, His grace became so much more real. His Holy Spirit brings peace to my heart when I ask and joy when I focus on Him and not on everything I can't control. And when I remember that Jesus is KING over all, there's a special kind of rest that settles in -- this King cannot fail, He does not lie, He wants to know what I'm thinking and wants to show me how to navigate this gift shop we're in, and it's all because He loves me better than anyone else ever will. And spoiler alert: He owns everything in the gift shop... so as much as we might think this little life and all our trinkets belong to us, they wouldn't exist without His ownership and willingness to give everything away for us to experience it.
As I looked around the shop and saw people wandering, I couldn't help but to tell them about the deal being offered at the register. My motivation was not to brag about the cash in my own pocket but to tell others so they didn't miss out. There's a lot of wandering happening these days in the name of freedom, but sometimes freedom looks or functions a little more like loneliness, a lack of commitment to much of anything, or worse a total disrespect for the wisdom or boundaries that preceded us. Part of my inner motivation of following Jesus is to tell others that His freedom is better and you are never really alone if you know Him. No trinket compares to His blessings. He will in fact give you everything you need, though it may not be in the form of handfuls of cash. I think our culture would do well to evaluate what it is that actually makes a life rich: is it cash? Is it stuff? Is it people? Is it status? Is it having what "everybody else" has? What drives your life? How do you want to spend it? Can I point you to someone who has a lot of gifts to give? His gift is free, but it will make you rich in ways you never knew. I intend to take everything I'm given and use it to bring joy to every household I have the privilege of joining.
It may have been a dream, but it certainly explains my reality better than I could've two nights ago. This year I have some pretty incredible opportunities to spend my freedom well. I fully intend to and I hope you have a clear mission in mind for your year.
I dreamed that a small crowd of people and I got on a smaller commercial airliner and took probably the shortest flight ever: straight up, level for just a moment, and then straight down to our destination which was not known to any of us. We disembarked and walked into the airport, only to spend our entire trip at the airport gift shop. None of us had specific things we were looking to buy, but all of us were browsing. I settled on some small trinket and brought it to the register to pay. The clerk took my money, and then instead of giving me exact change, handed me a couple thousand dollar bills in return. I looked at her in disbelief which prompted her to point to a sign. It said something to the effect of "every dollar spent earns $1000 in return." With great joy and urgency, I spent the remainder of my time telling others to buy something --anything! Spend everything you have because it's worth it! We walked back onto the airplane with thousands of dollars in each of our pockets. When we arrived home, for each of us the amount was different, but it was exceedingly more than any of us needed to provide for our families. And joy radiated in every household.
I woke up like, "Hmm... that was weird. Totally wish it worked that way though!" I went back to sleep and thought almost nothing of it. And then last night I was journaling and read my entry from the night of the dream. At church that day, we were challenged toward generosity in any outlet God has given you excess and it caused me to ask of the Lord:
"God, how should I be spending my days? How do I honor You with the freedom of my singleness while also living wisely and preparing for the future?... My prayer has been 'God, I will do anything you say. Your servant is listening.' "
And then I had the dream about spending and receiving...
So what does it mean? I don't know for sure-- dream interpretation isn't necessarily a skill set I'd call myself proficient in, and yet, given what I had just prayed, here's my take.
Each of us really only has a short flight and a small crowd that we're permitted to experience in our lives. We don't choose the family of origin, the neighbors, or the socioeconomic classes we are born into. For much of our childhood and teenage years, we don't get a lot of say in where we are going and really, in adulthood, the choices aren't much wider -- they just appear that way. None of us knows for sure that we will find someone to love, be able to have children, remain financially stable in a job that we love, or have healthy children and no economic crisis in our lifetime. It's just not promised. Consider what's happening in the middle east -- the average person most certainly is not in control of that turbulence. Life is short and the promises are few.
We like to think that we get to control what we spend our lives on in the small "gift shop" we find ourselves in, and to some degree that's true. I certainly choose my own groceries, but it's limited based on what's available in that store, this region, or in this country. (Still waiting for Manila mangoes to make their way to MN...) Without the driving force of a greater purpose or a higher calling, we are much like tourists in a gift shop -- just browsing, maybe investing a little, but not really sure if there's something better just down the way. But to buy something is to commit, even if it's just a few dollars. When I bought something in my dream, I fully anticipated that my dollars were gone in equal exchange for the item I received. I committed to financial loss for personal gain.
If I can be totally frank for a second, this is a lot like the exchange of pursuing ministry as a career. Seriously, nobody goes into this looking to get rich and the ones who do usually end up on the news for one reason or another. I knew that when I gave my heart to Jesus and said I would spend my career encouraging others to know Him better that it would likely mean my paychecks would never reach anywhere close to six figures. But I knew it was a worthy investment and that "richness" would show up in other ways. I have no regrets. I have come to deeply love and appreciate my journey through my 20's even though some days it felt like following Jesus was costing me so much more than a good paycheck. A few times it nearly cost me my mental health, physical health, social network, and/or any sense of home or stability... It has NOT been easy to say the least. But I have no regrets. Following Jesus has absolutely been worth the cost.
Why? Because much like the dream, what I've been given in return is so much better and goes so much farther than a paycheck that nothing else compares. Romans 12 tells us that God equips each of us with gifts that are useful for encouraging human flourishing and pointing others to His incredible grace. My spiritual gifts may seem like trinkets. My free time may feel less-than-super-valuable. The elements that make up my life and story may seem mundane to me, but Psalm 139 argues otherwise: "God knew every one of your days before even one of them came to be." Nothing is an accident or a mistake, even if it arrived as a consequence to someone else's mistakes. God is way too big and far too strong to be sneak-attacked and cheated out of His sovereign plans.
In a roundabout way, God clearly answered my question. When I came to know Jesus as a person and not just the dude in all the pictures at my hometown church, His grace became so much more real. His Holy Spirit brings peace to my heart when I ask and joy when I focus on Him and not on everything I can't control. And when I remember that Jesus is KING over all, there's a special kind of rest that settles in -- this King cannot fail, He does not lie, He wants to know what I'm thinking and wants to show me how to navigate this gift shop we're in, and it's all because He loves me better than anyone else ever will. And spoiler alert: He owns everything in the gift shop... so as much as we might think this little life and all our trinkets belong to us, they wouldn't exist without His ownership and willingness to give everything away for us to experience it.
As I looked around the shop and saw people wandering, I couldn't help but to tell them about the deal being offered at the register. My motivation was not to brag about the cash in my own pocket but to tell others so they didn't miss out. There's a lot of wandering happening these days in the name of freedom, but sometimes freedom looks or functions a little more like loneliness, a lack of commitment to much of anything, or worse a total disrespect for the wisdom or boundaries that preceded us. Part of my inner motivation of following Jesus is to tell others that His freedom is better and you are never really alone if you know Him. No trinket compares to His blessings. He will in fact give you everything you need, though it may not be in the form of handfuls of cash. I think our culture would do well to evaluate what it is that actually makes a life rich: is it cash? Is it stuff? Is it people? Is it status? Is it having what "everybody else" has? What drives your life? How do you want to spend it? Can I point you to someone who has a lot of gifts to give? His gift is free, but it will make you rich in ways you never knew. I intend to take everything I'm given and use it to bring joy to every household I have the privilege of joining.
It may have been a dream, but it certainly explains my reality better than I could've two nights ago. This year I have some pretty incredible opportunities to spend my freedom well. I fully intend to and I hope you have a clear mission in mind for your year.
When Al left the business world to be in full-time ministry, we would be by-passing 90% of the income/benefits. We would be living on 10% of what was available previously.
ReplyDeleteI knew that the enemy would try to make me resentful. My prayer was: Lord, help me to never, ever regret the $ and perks that we "gave up."
And, I never have. Ever!
Thank you, Jesus!