DREAMER'S CHALLENGE: Day 3

    So...yesterday I pretty much wasted a perfectly good Friday--or at least, partially.  The day started out well enough, but by eleven o' clock at night, I had wasted a couple of prime God-hours goofing off on the internet just "surfing around."  By the time I reached my bedroom to start winding down before sleep, I was totally disgusted with myself.  I knew better than to goof off like that and waste precious time...and yet I did.  And now it was eleven: too late to redeem the day. 


    I started desperately flipping through my Bible, notes flying all over the place, hoping to stumble upon something poignant--maybe a verse that detailed the curses that came upon those who wasted time.  That would have at least somewhat eased my aching conscience, but NO--God chose to do something to me even worse.  Instead of curses, I found tons of verses that listed the BLESSINGS that came with serving God wholeheartedly.  From the Old Testament to the New Testament, all I saw was blessings, love, forgiveness, mercy, AHHH!!  Where was God's punishing wrath when I needed it?  Just as I began to contemplate storming out the front door of my house and tearing down the street and into the dark night like a raving lunatic, I found the verse I needed to hear (thank God): Ephesians 5:14-17:


Therefore He says: "Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light."  See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Sanity rushed back into my bones.  I could feel the color returning to my drained face.  Here was a verse that seemed to gently rebuke, and offer hope.  I had been bracing myself for hell fire, and here was my loving, merciful God again (Why are you so good to me, God?), advising me to redeem the wasted time...but how?  WHAT could God's will possibly be for me at this late hour?  I  resolved to pray to God for at least two hours (by now it was around 11:30 PM) to show God how serious I was about "redeeming the time."  Instead God sent me my younger brother.

Brother: "Megan, I'm going to sleep in your room tonight so I can try out my new army sleeping bag, and we're gonna' have a good old time staying up late and telling stories and--"

"Uh, tonight's not going to be a good night for that..." I started, but as the words artlessly rolled off my tongue, a few different verses about serving God through loving His people pounced onto my brain:


"whatever you do for the least of these you do for Me [Jesus]..."


"They [the world] will know them [the Christians] by the love that they have for one another..."


"Love your neighbor as yourself..." [how can I love my neighbor if I don't love my brother first?]


So I said, "Sure..."


"YES!"


"...Under ONE condition: we pray together before we go to sleep!"


"Uh, sure...but do I have to pray?"


"Only if you want to..." I consented.


We talked for almost two hours, I on my bed, and he curled up in his sleeping bag on my cat-themed rug.  He told me about his hopes and dreams, mainly sports-related, and I mostly just listened.  It obviously meant a lot to him.

I did some thinking, too...
    God does not just want us to be obedient, He wants us to take INITIATIVE--take action, and find ways to love people!  That requires some effort on my part.  Serving God, after all, is a privilege.  A good friend of mine once told me that when you are really pursuing God, it is always best to stay just outside of your ever-expanding comfort zone.  She is so right.

By 1:00 AM in the morning, we were both exhausted, so after I had prayed blessings over his and my other family member's lives, I turned off my night light and we fell dead asleep.
   I dreamed some bizarre dream that involved ME driving my family (even in my dream THAT was a hellish experience for all) to Publix, we only having three dollars to spend on groceries, and one of my younger brothers wanting to spend all of our money on candy corn. 
    I don't even care what I dream about at this point; I am just happy for the revelation God gave me while I was awake yesterday!  I am happy period.  Despite my failure, I feel strangely triumphant.  God is near, and I can feel it.  I do not have to wonder what the meaning of life is, because I have found it in Jesus Christ!  His love propels me, motivates me, changes me--and changes others in the process.

   ...My contentment does not mean I am quitting the challenge; I feel God has things to show me yet through this entertainment fast!  


   I hope you are encouraged by these posts, and pray that you will have a blessed week: full of love, light, and the joy of the LORD!

DREAMER'S CHALLENGE: Day 2

    It is so true what people say about beauty rising out of the ashes of pain. Last night, after my rocky beginnings with Day 1 of the Dreamer's Challenge, I crawled into the back of my dad's truck, threw my head back, and soaked in the awesome sight of God's stars...and the occasional plane taking off from a nearby airport. Somehow, the combination of these sights prompted me to think of the song Keith Green wrote about God's beauty, "Oh Lord, You're Beautiful."

    I had a good conversation with God, and read Psalm 37 by the light of the stars, street lights, and passing cars' headlights. This psalm is especially meaningful and beautiful, I discovered, when read aloud. I have tried to read this particular psalm before without really "getting it," but last night was different. It was as if I had never read it before. I especially love verses 3-4 and 34-40, but the whole piece is both delicious and rejuvenating.

    The Psalm begins by declaring, "Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart," and ends on a similar note, " But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is their strength in the time of trouble. And the LORD shall help them and deliver them; He shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in Him."

    We are not only blessed, but SAVED by God for trusting in Him!  Trust must be pretty important to God, huh?  What separated many of the heroes of the Bible from the people that lived around them in their time was not their own holiness--some of them were drunks, liars, hypocrites, and cowards--but instead was the trust that they had in God.  Sure, they had their doubts at times--many times, in fact--but for some of the time, they trusted God, and it was during those times that God moved them the most.

    I guess the theme of the day must be Keith Green, because I've got another song for you called "He'll Take Care of the Rest" that relates beautifully to this topic:

    After spending some time with God, I slipped back into my house and plopped onto a couch next to two of my younger brothers, twins.  They were watching the movie Eight Below with my dad.  Not wanting to watch TV or leave their company, I ultimately chose to sit at a nearby table and draw illustrations for a possible future installment story idea of mine (HINT HINT).  I prayed a short prayer before crawling into bed, and slept soundly.

    I only remember having one dream, and the details I remember are vague: something exciting was going on, possibly a wedding, and I wrote "I love something" on my arm.  I still don't remember what that "something" was, but the dream was bright, clean, refreshing--not nightmarish.  I feel that God has blessed me for going to Him first.  Psalm 4, the verse that was so ironic to my sleep experience two nights ago, now echoes the peace I experienced last night.

    God's mercies really ARE new each day; praise the LORD!