Bold Dreams

I dreamed that God had a Facebook wall, on which I simply wrote, "Come On!"


I knew He'd know what I meant.  That I'd grown weary of pleading and pretending patience and that I needed Him to understand my need was Real.  My need was Now.


When I awakened, I remembered vividly and felt chagrin and even shame.  How dare I walk right up, post a demand on my Friend's wall for all to see so bold and so stark and so--rude!  In my mind I started to apologize and explain and dismiss my sentiments as "just a dream."


But then I realized that those two words were the essence of all my prayers and petitions over the last several months.  Without pretense or preamble, I had dreamed up a prayer that was straight and true and the clearest expression of the pain in my soul.


And I realized that He'd already known my prayer and hadn't been surprised in the least at my outburst of frustration.  And somehow, He's okay with that.  My prayer wasn't eloquent or even completely coherent.  But I'd finally said it.  And the veil of pretending was gone--I'd finally revealed myself at my most vulnerable and admitted my anger and impatience; but more importantly--my faith.


Those two terse words, "Come On!" contain my belief that he will indeed, answer my need.
In fact Paul already wrote this, and said it better than I did a long time ago:

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.

So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. 

This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

Hebrews 4:13-16

So when will I learn to just show up in God's throne room and start remembering that He'll receive me with mercy, grace, and love?

Along the Path

Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left. ~ Isaiah 30:21

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Life-changing events happen to us all.  Some are overtly planned to have a positive effect in our lives and are the results of choices we make: graduations, wedding day, becoming a parent.   Our journey unfolds as an adventure on a chosen path--not always smoothly, but surprisingly, with bits of joy and brilliance along the way.

Some events pluck us off of our path and fling us down upon another road, unfamiliar and unwelcome and almost unbearably lonely.

We meet new people on this path, common neighbors to whatever tragedy or trauma also brought them here.  Some friends walk along beside us and choose brave the tough spots, some cannot or will not; and we mourn the loss of their company.  But hope springs up in this place and we learn to abstract beauty from the ashes, and a spirit of praise from despair.

Morning by morning we awake, our terror lessening; reminded that we're given strength and comfort in the time of need.  His voice still whispers, "We're where we need to be on this journey Home. Together."

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What's more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you. ~ Genesis 28:15