Wednesday, 01 July 2009

• An open letter to my children

     My dear daughters,
  
  Almost every week, I start my Sunday School class with a question to get people talking.  Last Sunday, it was, "Name a place you'd like to visit in your lifetime, but doubt you'll ever get the chance."  I was thinking about this on Sunday morning before we left for church as I was doing a final review of my lesson.  I was thinking how my gut reaction to that question was that if there's a place I really dream of going, that I could make it happen.  Then I thought how most people in my class would probably agree.
  
  See, in our world, people want you to believe that nothing is impossible.  That all your dreams can come true.  That you can go anywhere you decide you want to go.  That you can be anything you want to be.  In fact, I may have told you as much. 
  
  I want to go on the record right now, saying that you cannot be anything you want to be.  You cannot do anything you want to do.  Precious girls, this world is deceived, and that is "Tower of Babel" thinking.  If you charge, full-steam ahead, into chasing your dream, without consulting God, without checking to see if it's His will for your life, you're really aiming straight for frustration, failure, and heartbreak.
  
  Despite what all the sappy, inspirational songs and poems and stories and movies say, you do have limits.  You are limited ultimately to do what God has ordained for your life.  It's my desperate prayer that you will hold your dreams and desires and plans for your life loosely.  I pray that you will be able to lay them on the altar of sacrifice.
  
  When we can loosen our grips on what we have dreamed for the future, allowing God's will to take precedence, a funny thing happens.  He takes us on the most exciting, fulfilling unexpected  ride.  He will do things with your life that are beyond what you ever thought for yourself. 
  
  When I say you cannot be whatever it is you want to be, I don't mean that you aren't smart enough or talented enough or creative enough or resourceful enough.  For you surely are.  I mean that God has mapped out your days and your service, and without obedience to Him, all your other strivings are useless.
  
  So, my sweet girls, I implore you to embrace the truth of God's word.  Know that He will equip you for whatever work He sets before your hands.  He will use you to spread the gospel, even to the ends of the earth.  He will take you places.  He will walk with you through the valley and reveal Himself to you on the mountaintop.  He will use you to do great things.  You will love fiercely.  You will heal hurts.  You will speak truth.  You will live a life beyond what you can imagine.
  
  But only if you choose obedience to Him.  Submit to His will.  Yield your dreams, trusting that He will be faithful to exchange your dream for His perfect future.  Trust Him to take you to all sorts of places you never dreamed of dreaming of going. Reject the lie that you can be whatever you want, and commit yourself to being whatever He wants.  I guarantee you won't regret it.
  
  Love,
  Mom
  
  

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