A thought by Ann Voskamp in her book, WayMaker, (p. 30). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)
That's not exactly what we usually want, is it?
Ann continues, "I think I’ve always expected . . . more."
She says, "I mean, maybe that’s always been the story, right from our collective beginning. The whole of the rest of the garden of Eden wasn’t enough; we wanted—expected—more. Though we were chosen to bask in the bliss, we weren’t satisfied until we could choose our own way, pick our own dreams, take a bite out of our own choosing, and have all of it. But to be dangerously frank, the way God chose for us in the garden can seem misguided at best, and foolishly illogical at worst: Don’t eat this fruit. Why in the name of all things holy does He choose to forbid . . . fruit? What in the world is immoral about savoring a bit of the proverbial apple? Why obey a commandment not to sink your teeth into the sweet, an edict that seems, from any human perspective, more than a bit random and bordering on frivolous?"
She goes on, "But maybe this points the way to a surrendered trust without horizons in Him whose holy ways are higher than ours. We want things to go the way we choose—and God wants us to choose to trust His ways. We expect more—and God expects us to trust Him more. The ways God chooses for His chosen are ways that beg us to choose trust. It’s impossible for us to please God unless we trust God with the impossible (Hebrews 11:6). There is no pleasing God without trusting God. Trusting God is no small thing: To God, it is everything. God wants to be chosen too."
Ann continues her story, "I turn to look over at that sixteen-year-old Farm Boy, read his face, the headlights of oncoming traffic lighting his eyes. He feels my eyes tracing his face—and he flashes that grin that melts me every time. I smile slowly in a Volkswagen car lost in the snow going—somewhere, anywhere. We’re just together, aren’t we?
"So what if this is the first date and we’re lost? So what if we’re missing the banquet and all the slicked-back guys in ties have led their satin-swathed ladies to the candlelit tables and the evening’s program has commenced? So what if the expectation of all my imaginary dreams just blew away in a gust of cold December wind?"
She then says, "The banquet wasn’t his dream. I was. If we made it to the banquet, fabulous. If we stayed lost in the car, maybe more fabulous. To be chosen is the ultimate dream, communion the ultimate destination, and you don’t have to keep looking for a way, because God is looking for you, to be with you, and your chosenness destroys all aloneness.
"It can look like we are lost on the way—but if we are with Someone who loves us, we are never lost."
And that is so true. Yes, yes! #continuethought
Comments
Post a Comment