Just What You've Always Wanted - Girlfriends in God - January 28, 2015
January 28, 2015
Just What You’ve Always Wanted
Sharon Jaynes
Today’s Truth
Jesus said: “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of” (John 10:10b The Message).
Friend to Friend
Yard sales. I’ve never really liked them. But when we were preparing to move from the home we had lived in for twenty years, we (aka “I”) decided it was a way to clean out the clutter, make a little money, and not move “treasures” from one attic to another.
We displayed our lovely attic décor on makeshift plywood tables, gave them a quick dusting, and waited for the bargain babes to descend. We were not disappointed. Two hours before the advertised opening time, bargain hunters began swarming outside the closed garage doors. Then, upon the unveiling, the hive attacked.
Among the valuables from my past sat an electric, ceramic 12” Christmas tree with various colored lights…no doubt a gift from the eighties. One particular woman perused the lovely display and came upon this “magnificent work of art.”
“I’ve always wanted one of these!” she declared with excitement in her voice. “How much is it?”
“Three dollars,” my husband, Steve, answered.
“Humph,” she grunted and walked on.
Wide-eyed and slack-jawed, Steve and I stifled our laughter.
Let’s rewind the scene for a moment. This woman said she had always wanted a ceramic Christmas tree just like that one. (I’m not here to judge another person’s dreams. That’s just what she said.) Always wanted one. Her whole life. And here it was! For a mere three-dollars, her dream could have come true! The search was over!
Most likely we would have sacrificed this masterpiece for two-dollars, but she didn’t even ask. She just shrugged and walked away.
Then my mind began to wander through a rummage sale of its own. Perhaps yours as well.
How many times dowe long for a particular dream to come true in our lives? Pine for it. Search for it. Obsess over it.
A husband. A child. A job. A home.
Then one day, there it is! It can be ours! The search is over. We say our “I do’s,” bring home the bundle of joy, log in our first eight hours, hang up the last curtain.
But then, a little time passes. The husband is not as romantic as we had hoped, the kids are not as obedient as we had imagined, the job isn’t as rewarding as we had envisioned, and the house never ceases to need attention. “Humph,” we grumble. “No thanks.”
We think we want something, and then when we get it, we decide we really don’t want it after all.
Let me take it one step further. How many times do we long for love, joy, and peace in our lives? We search for it, long for it, and pray about it. Then someone points us to the cross and says, “There is it. It can be yours for the asking. It won’t cost you three-dollars, two-dollars, or even one-dollar! It’s free!”
“Humph,” we shrug. “No thanks.”
And we walk away to rummage through the yard sales of life looking for treasure among other people’s clutter.
Dear friend, God is holding out His Holy hand with the most magnificent Gift of all time. Love, joy, and peace personified in His Son, Jesus Christ. He is what you have always been longing for, searching for, watching for. Jesus said, “I have come that [you] might have life and have it to the full” (NIV).
Let’s Pray
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for making all my dreams come true. You have given me everything I have ever longed for in the person of Jesus Christ. Please forgive me for turning my back on Your amazing Gift and trying to fill my longings with people and possessions. I know that nothing will ever satisfy my desire for peace, love, and joy except Jesus. And Lord, I also know that when I am filled with the peace, love, and joy of Jesus, I will spill that love onto those around me.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
Now It’s Your Turn
Have you ever searched and searched for something in particular, and then when you found it, you realized it wasn’t so great after all? Make a list. If you’re like me, it is probably long…if you’re honest.
Now let’s look inward. Are there longings in your life that you are expecting other people to fill, but in reality, you know in your “knower” that only Jesus can really fill?
If so, what do you need to do about it?
Let’s have a fun “girlfriendy” chat. Click over to my Facebook page and tell me the best thing you ever bought at a yard sale.
More from the Girlfriends
Sometimes life doesn’t turn out like we thought it would. OK, MOST of the time life doesn’t turn out like we thought it would. So what do you do when that happens? Oh sister, God has a plan! A good and perfect plan! Can you risk the hope that God still has dreams for your life? That He hasn’t forgotten you? Place your hand firmly in His—take a deep breath and begin the exciting journey to a place you thought you’d never find: the dream God planned for you all along. Learn more in my book 5 Dreams of Every Woman and How God Longs to Fulfill Them.
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