Laying down childish things

When we are but wee children we have dreams that in our little worlds are too wonderful for even the adult to accomplish because of the degree of difficulty it entails. We dream of flying and riding on the massive neck of a Brontosaurus (ok so when I was a kid I loved dinosaurs). These are happy dreams and not very attainable, but really fun to close your eyes and vividly capture the moment this dream comes true.

Paul writes to the Corinthians:

"When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man I put away childish things." 1 Corinthians 13:11

Our dreams are the same way. When we were children we dreamed like children, envisioning that big friend of ours Mr. Bronto letting his head down so we could hop on and go for a ride. We dreamed of leaping into the air and the wind catching us so as to be in flight. We took shovels to the ground determined to get to China. Our dreams were unattainable, imaginative, pictures and playful things in our minds that God blessed us with, and for a time we were content with pretending these things could come true.

But as Paul writes "but when I became a man I put away childish things." We put away childish dreams and replace them with attainable, goal oriented dreams that can become a reality if we only work hard enough at them.

That's where I'm at big time in my life, as are most of my peers. Working hard at an attainable dream that has a very major, Kingdom furthering goal. There is almost only and exact year left in my time here at college, and then like a blunt hit to the back of the head, it's really time to try and move forward in that dream.

All the while I have been learning about culture, how to institute the Gospel into a different culture efficiently. I have been taught what to expect when entering a new culture, what to look for within myself as far as culture shock. I've learned how to teach someone the Bible and what it means (although I, and no one, has all the answers). I've learned what to expect when learning a new language, I even experienced it a bit throughout my college career.

I've had to hop off the figurative neck of Mr. Bronto, and dive into the sea of the more satisfactory vision of my passion. God does some pretty incredible things when we lay down childish thoughts and understanding, even dreams, and focus our dreams on His will, fulfilling our passion in ways we couldn't comprehend.

But God is great in the imaginations he instills in us as children. Oh how it helps us later in life.

Sometimes, though, our dreams involve patience, as much as I am itching to get out on the field, as much as I am ready to get out of college. There is much to learn on this road we are now walking in our own prospective ways with the Lord.

All to God