A Beauty Glorious

About a year ago, I went to a youth conference in Northern California. It was incredible and so many amazing things happened there, but one thing that really stuck with me was when one of the speakers talked about making a list. He said to make a list of one hundred dreams that you want to experience in your life, especially if they’re big dreams that sound impossible. I came home and started writing out my list, and discovered that it’s way harder than it sounds. I got up to seventy-four. These are a few of them:

• Spend a few months in England.
• Act in something magnificent and enduring.
• Go on a spontaneous trip (less than two days’ notice) involving an airplane and Jesus.
• Live a week in the past.
• See a dead person raised.
• Fly under my own power.
• Learn to Irish dance.
• Touch lives through my art.

I guess you noticed that some of these are pretty big. Fly under my own power? Really? I don’t mean a hang glider, I’m talking Peter Pan status here, ladies. I’m not going to be bitter if it doesn’t happen before I die, but I figure, if “with God all things are possible,” then I might as well put it on the list, right? Stranger things have happened.

That last one is really the most important to me on this mini-list. That’s why I write A Beauty Glorious. It’s a dream that I firmly believe God has placed inside of me, and I am so excited to see where he’s going to take it.

You know what really blows my mind, though? As crazy as some of the dreams of my heart are, God dreams much bigger. Ephesians 3:20 exclaims, “Glory belongs to God, whose power is at work in us. By this power he can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.”

Every time I think of this verse, I think of Han Solo’s line in the original Star Wars movie: “I don’t know, I can imagine quite a bit.” Ha! As if Han or anyone could ever out-imagine GOD!! (He’s kind of infinite, and all that…)

John Eldredge put it this way: “I mean, really. We have dreamed better dreams than God can dream? We have written stories that have a better ending than God has provided? It cannot be.” (From his book Epic, which I very highly recommend and will probably blog about soon.)

God’s plans for you are far more amazing than you could ever plan on your own. I’ve discovered something that has completely revolutionized my perspective of life: Every time God takes something away, it’s so that he can give you something better. (Isaiah 60:7, 61:3) With this in mind, there’s never a need to get upset or afraid about any dream that seems to slip through your fingers. It only means that God’s got something even more amazing up his sleeve! And mark my words: it will be something you could never have imagined on your own.

My sister has a dream from God to build a well in Nigeria, to give a community clean drinking water. It's not going to be easy; there don't seem to be many organizations building wells in that part of Africa. Many people would say that a teen can't do something like that, but my sister knows that this a dream God gave her, and I believe she IS going to see it happen.

So don’t be afraid. There are no limits. Dream up a storm! But here’s the thing: don’t forget to dream with God. He gave you your passions, and he wants to use the dreams you carry in your heart. But he also wants to do things you’ve never before imagined. Adventure? Absolutely. When you’re dreaming with the original Dreamer, you never know where you’ll end up.

And keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times, because it’s going to be a wild ride! Guaranteed.