Wake Up to Living

        Behold: the sun is high in the clear, blue sky, but a man doesn’t feel the burn of its rays when he stepped outside from his house. He took a stroll around the staple looking at the flowers and leaves blowing in the wind—he doesn’t feel a thing. He did remember the weather lady forecasting showers in the afternoon, and he just so happened to feel like taking a stroll around the neighborhood that afternoon. “Of course, forecasters aren’t always right, so it won’t rain on me” so, he thought. About a half a mile away from the farm land and the sun reaching close to the horizon, clouds appeared like someone wished them there. More clouds appeared, and they become grayer and thicker. “It won’t rain!” the man insisted to himself. Oh, it will. The sprinkles dropped, and that man suddenly realized that it’s raining. “I got to get back to the house”. He ran as fast as he could to outrun the rain—couldn’t. That man was completely soaked when he got back into the comfort zone of his house. Reaching for a towel to dry off, he thought: “How did this happen?”

        Ok—how, indeed, did that person not wake up to the reality of what the weather lady told her audience. It was going to rain! Simple: he was asleep. He was numb. He couldn’t feel the urgency of her voice. There’s thunder, lightning, and hail forecasted. It happened after the man was safe in his house, but he wouldn’t have realized it unless he never wanted to be soaked in the first place. There was no urgency in his heart. There was no emotion to feel, or beauty to take in. He’s a daily sleep walker.

        Is that what we are? Are we all sleep walking spiritually? Are we just walking through life without feeling anything, or taking in beauty, or determinate to love or do anything besides what we are comfortable with? I know that I am fighting that sleep walking side of me that just wants to be comfortable, but the truth is: comfort doesn’t necessarily mean happiness or fullness of life. You are just comfortable—that’s it. Is that what Jesus wants for us? “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). Yep, that’s the words of Jesus Himself.

        Notice He said “might”—meaning it’s a decision we have to make for ourselves. He wants us to live the way He lived with an abundant life filled with beauty, emotion, passionate determination for what’s right in God’s eyes, and love. I know that I struggle trying to ingrain these things into my life. It’s difficult when it’s natural to be numb. I don’t want to be numb! So, how do I get out of the numbness? It’s simple: faith, hope, and love. Faith to step out of my comfort zone in order to live my faith, hope in a dream or vision that I cannot see (have to be specific in regards to those dreams and visions), and love for God and my fellow man. It’s that easy, right? Yea, it is easy—to say—but not easy to do. In fact, it’s impossible to do on my own. Thankfully, Jesus said: “the things which are impossible with men are possible with God” (Luke 18:27). My hope is that you will believe that with me: “with God, all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).