A Season for Dreaming

Hello. It’s been a little while, hasn’t it? Several months actually.

Last semester was a little crazy for me. When I finally did sit down to write again, I always second-guessed myself. In the end, I would have a piece of paper with a lot of ink on it and nothing substantial to say.

It was confusing and frustrating. I love to write, and when I started, I had so many things to say. My journal was full of dreams and ideas, and everyday the Lord was teaching me new things. At some point, it all just kind of stopped at once.

Well, let’s fast-forward a little bit.

The current message series at Church of the Highlands is titled “Dream Again.” It was during Part I that I realized that the dryness in my spiritual life wasn’t being satisfied because I had stopped dreaming, and when I stopped dreaming, I stopped being able to write.

Was I still spending time in prayer and worship? Yes. However, my prayers were stale. I prayed what I thought I should or what I thought the Lord could achieve. I was afraid of praying for big things. What if they never happened? To be honest, unanswered prayers scared me, but the reality is that God wants us to ask for the big things. He’s looking to show off. His power is so much greater than we could ever imagine. When it comes to prayer, you never know what He can do for you if you never ask.

So what’s the point of all this? Never stop dreaming. Never stop asking God for the big things. He cares about the things that you care about. He loves you more than you could ever deserve, and he WANTS to bless you. Ask Him for the big things because as big as they may seem to you, to Him they are small. With less than a whisper He can move the mountains. Have you asked Him to move yours?

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7

It’s time to dream again, and it’s time to pray for the “impossible.”

Recognizing Our Challenge

Be very careful, then, how you live- not as unwise but as wise, making the
most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
Ephesians 5:15-16

I’ve been thinking about this verse quite a bit lately, especially how it applies to my life and the lives of my peers. In my mind, it breaks down into four main ideas:

1. We should to be careful how we live.
It seems like such an obvious idea, but if you’re like me and you attend a large, secular university, you know it can be hard. The best way to insure that you are living the way you should be is to surround yourself with the right people. As Pastor Chris Hodges says, “show me your friends, and I’ll show you your future.” You should want to do life with those who will build you up and encourage you to be the best that you can be. You’re more likely to succeed if you have a support system of people who also want to succeed.

2. We should to be aware of how others perceive how we live.
Something I’ve noticed as I’ve been working with a lot of college students who are new Christians is that social media can easily fudge the line between perception and reality. A Christian girl in a sorority may be completely sober at a party, but if she posts a snapchat video of the party, people are likely to think that she participated. It’s SO important to be careful about what you put on social media because people are watching you. The world as a whole is looking for you to fail in your walk with Christ, don’t give them a reason to think you have.

3. We should make the most of every opportunity.
I don’t know about you, but when I move onto the next phase of life, I want to leave a legacy in my wake. More importantly, I want to leave knowing that I’ve impacted the Kingdom of God for the better. What I’ve realized in my time at the University of Alabama so far is that we have to take advantage of every opportunity we are given. This doesn’t mean say “yes” to everything, but you also shouldn’t say “no” to everything in order to stay within the confines of your comfort zone. Everyday brings new opportunities to do something worthwhile.

4. We should create opportunities for ourselves.
I know this is a lot like the previous point, but I think it’s important that it’s emphasized. Don’t just let the opportunities come to you, seek them out. Notice a problem and solve it. Do your roommate’s dishes, encourage a stranger. Small things can impact the kingdom in a big way. Make a difference in someone’s life.

This verse is the theme for my last two years in college. My challenge to you is to make it a theme in your current season of life as well. Can you imagine the impact that would have on not only you but those around you?

You Can’t Blame it on a Personality Type

This Summer, a friend of mine told me about the Myers-Briggs personality test, and I took it for the first time. My results were not suprising: E (extroverted over introverted), N (iNtuitive over sensing), F (feeling over thinking), J (judging over perceiving). The results fascinated me, so I continued to research descriptions and profiles for the ENFJ personality.
The traits that stood out to me the most were about friendships. Several profiles described ENFJs as valuable, yet smothering individuals. Basically, they care a lot about others and want to help them become the best that they can be. However, according to the personality profile, ENFJs also desire constant feedback. These things combined can create a lot of problems.
Anyway, after deciding that the ENFJ personality was “so me,” I began to make excuses for myself. I accepted the negative traits along with the positive ones, telling myself, “that’s just the way I am.” But wow, what a mistake.
Can you imagine if we adopted that mindset with God? Hey God, I know I’m not supposed to do this, but I’m a sinner. That’s just who I am. That example sounds a little extreme, but it’s not really. We do that sometimes with God. We make excuses for ourselves and our actions.
Jesus Christ died on the cross so that we could be free, made new, redeemed, born again. We should strive everyday to be the best that we can be. Everything I say and do is a choice. I pledge from this day forward to be as Christ-like as possible. I am not a personality type. I can no longer make excuses.

How Did I get Here?

I live about an hour away from my hometown with most of the drive being on the interstate. More than once, I’ve gotten lost in thought on my way home. Sometimes I get really into whatever music I’m listening to, and sometimes I end up thinking about life, God, and the future. All of a sudden, I’ve arrived at my exit, and I have no idea how I got there. The idea of driving on autopilot is pretty scary when you think about what you may have missed when you weren’t fully paying attention.

I think that sometimes our walk with Christ can be like that. We’re so used to doing the “right” thing that it becomes second nature. The danger in this is that if we’re not careful, we can miss some of the important aspects of our journey.

I don’t want to get caught on autopilot in my walk with Christ. I want to take the time to reflect on what He’s doing in my life and the lives of those around me. Every step of the journey has something to teach us, and I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to miss a single thing.