Even today when I see the sky striped white I look up to see the plane and wonder just where it's going. I often dream of it heading to Paris. I picture those on board and wonder what their lives are like. In the next moment I dream big. I ponder just how I would feel on board and flying off to Ireland. I'm a ground girl. I have never flown. So, in my wonderment I travel with others as I see them escaping through the blue.
I've never been one to wish I was someone else. Jealousy has never been something I've had to fight. But I do dream. Maybe just to live in someone else's shoes for a day. Sometimes I ponder just like everyone else and think what life would be sixty flights up. I love sky high buildings. You know, those that make you wabble as you look up. I wonder what it must be like to live in a big city apartment looking down onto the green grass of the park. Do you wonder? Do you wonder if those who live sixty flights up have a better life?
We dream of being someone else. Living somewhere new. Experiencing life in a different way. Somehow we allow ourselves to think that other people don't have troubles. Heartache doesn't touch them. We envy those who have life easier. Some of us seem to struggle more than others. But is that fair? In a world filled with sinners we are all in need of the same thing. Salvation. Some live in the grace of God, while others chase the world.
It doesn't matter if you live on the first floor or sixty flights up heartache touches everyone. We all feel loss. Friendships end. Loved ones die. Jobs are canceled. Cancer strikes. Our children battle war. Family quarrels. Marriages see divorce. We always think that we are the only people going through trial. It just isn't so. As one family embraces their newborn daughter another family is saying good-bye to their son. Crashes happen and before we know it we hear the news that our friend has died. This is life. It's real for all of us.
There isn't anything wrong with dreaming big, but when we begin wishing we were someone else, let's think about that. We see our friend who is soaring high. Everything is going wonderful for her. Money in the bank. (I mean, don't we all think money would make life easier?) She is married to a husband most women only dream of having. Three perfect children. From where we sit they literally look perfect. They are all in college. Graduating with honors. Careers a head of them. One is a doctor. Another is a journalist. And the youngest is heading off to New York to be a designer. A home of perfection. We dream of being her.
If only my life could be like hers. Here I am driving an old model car. A small home in the country. My husband was just laid off. My mother is in the hospital. The list could go on and on. But then I hear the news. Jessica was just diagnosed with breast cancer. The same friend I wish my life could portray now has cancer. I call her. She tells me that it is so advanced there is nothing they can do.
Do I still wish for her life? Do I still envy all she has? No. I would rather be in my small country home than hear the news that cancer will take my life. Be careful what you wish for. Be careful with envy. Just because another has more doesn't mean they have less trial. In fact, the stuff of this world is just that. Stuff. Nothing more and nothing less. We didn't enter this world with high rolling salaries and a penthouse filled with friends. We won't leave this world with all the stuff either. We will leave just as we came. Hopefully, we will leave knowing our Savior. Isn't that what is most important? Without Him we have nothing. With Him we have everything.
We need to stop wishing we were someone else. Enjoy who you are. Embrace who God has created you to be. Dream big, but dream of who God has called you to be. Looking at someone else's life with envy will not get us to who we are to be. We will just spend our time with what ifs and if onlys. Life is not without trial. Too often we can't see the sweet blessings in front of us because we are too focused on living the life of another.
When we chase the life of another we lose the direction the Lord has intended for us to follow. Through the blessings and trials that touch our life God is wanting one thing of us. Our heart.
Be present when you dream big and listen for the Lord's guidance. When we spend all our time looking down upon our life we are missing the point. Don't wallow in pity. Strive for more. Not more stuff, but more life. Life abundant is found in the most unexpected places. Chase after God and you will find a life lived extraordinary.
"Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Also through Him, we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces hope. This hope does not disappoint, because God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us." Romans 5:1-5
“And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history—money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery—the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.”
C.S Lewis
“Give me all of you!!! I don’t want so much of your time, so much of your talents and money, and so much of your work. I want YOU!!! ALL OF YOU!! I have not come to torment or frustrate the natural man or woman, but to KILL IT! No half measures will do. I don’t want to only prune a branch here and a branch there; rather I want the whole tree out! Hand it over to me, the whole outfit, all of your desires, all of your wants and wishes and dreams. Turn them ALL over to me, give yourself to me and I will make of you a new self---in my image. Give me yourself and in exchange I will give you Myself. My will, shall become your will. My heart, shall become your heart.”
C.S Lewis
