“I recently read something that has changed my life forever!” I’ll come back to that statement in a minute, but first let me just predict that my husband will chuckle at this bold statement when he reads this blog.
Why?
Because I say things like this all the time! LOL
AND it’s not an exaggeration; it’s true – I DO have my life changed forever a LOT, because I’m always growing and never un-growing. We do not go backwards in growth. So, everything we learn, when we accept it into our truth bank and allow it to affect us deeply, does actually change our life forever.
So, the thing I recently read that changed my life forever is in a book called “The Forgotten Way Meditations” by Ted Dekker (pg 125 if you have the book). It is an illustration of our identity in Christ and how we can be in the world but not of it.
The illustration encourages me to simply see myself as a girl building sandcastles on the beach, this job being my only calling in life. I am here to play and build sandcastles and enjoy the beach. In this illustration, the beach, waves, and weather are temporary things yet I am eternal. I resonate deeply with this symbolism. We are here on earth, not waiting for eternal life to begin, but living out a mere portion of it on earth. We are literally Heaven on Earth, children of God existing in human form for now and then continuing to live on eternally after our bodies die. So for now, I am the (heavenly) girl on the (earthly) beach.
Here, now, is the life-changing part: What I build is temporary.
I am not here to build perfect sandcastles and then protect them for eternity. Nothing I build has eternal value. It will wash away with the next wave! The sand is all temporary. The sandcastles I so joyfully (or stressfully) build, no matter how elaborate or time consuming, are all temporary.
My father God is exceptionally delighted in ME as I build, but my finished product is NOT the source of His delight. If I build things to get His (or someone else’s) approval, that performance is not my intended purpose here. Presenting a finished product in order to feel purposeful or fulfilled or successful or happy is missing the point! The source of my identity is not in my creation but in my creator. I AM the girl; I am NOT the sand. I am in this world but not of it!
No matter what we work to produce – these are temporary things.
Only the human spirit is eternal. Do I remember who I am and what I’m about?
Some of my recent sandcastles are on display for all to see and it’s vulnerable IF I think my identity is being judged by people on facebook and amazon – or by God my Father. But I am NOT what I produce or earn or accomplish -- books, a master’s degree, a counseling license, a paycheck, a decision to build a house, commitments in my planner, words in a blog – these are temporary – these are sandcastles. They are NOT me and my identity is not in these things I’ve created. My identity is in my creator – THAT is permanent. It does not change with the wind or the waves.
WHEW! Life changing, safe, peaceful – FUN!
“Your Kingdom come, Lord. Your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven.”
I hope you ENJOY your beach today. Build, Play, and Enjoy – because you are His eternal child and HE delights in YOU!
Always Expecting Something Amazing!
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