I love the movie, Greatest Showman. The music, the dancing, the acrobatics, and the passion driving it all. Watching that movie makes me want to go into the performing arts. In another lifetime I could even see myself doing that. There are so many different forms of artistic expression that I could imagine throwing myself into and delighting in it—dancing, figure skating, acting, singing, composing, playing the violin, acrobatics, painting, writing… were I granted 10 different lifetimes I think I would dedicate one to each of them. On this earth we’re so hedged in by circumstances, time, resources, physical ability… but in my minds eye I see a day in which those limitations will all be thrown off and we will finally each be free to fully express the beauty and joy and delight of creative expression bestowed on us by a loving Father—to not only experience incredible passion but also to express it fully to the great pleasure of our creator. On that day I will do all of those things and excel at them! I will live up to all of my potential merely to show off the creative genius of He who made me, and it will be pure bliss.
On this earth I’m thankful for little tastes of the glory I was created for. When I see great passion in a fellow human I am drawn to their craft. When someone shares the zeal that drives them I find myself wanting to know more, to experience the vigor myself. The best teachers are not those who are most knowledgeable about their craft, but those who are most passionate about it—because passion is contagious, and once caught it fuels both learning and action.
I do look forward to the day when I will express the passion of my heavenly Father in perfect measure and innocence, but on this earth I choose to do that in a few feeble, sin-corrupted ways, because He assures us that “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” I will seek to take small steps of faith—to do the uncomfortable things that His word calls me to. I will seek to live as though “The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty [does] rule over all,”(Psalm 103:19).
Jesus tells us that ”the kingdom of heaven is at hand”(Matthew 4:17), yet when I think about the brokenness of the city He has called me to, it is difficult to recognize. God’s word also instructs us to “walk by faith, not by sight“(2 Corinthians 5:7), and Jesus Himself said, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
So in faith I envision God’s kingdom settling on Cusco.
I envision faithful subjects being raised up in service of the King who, like Daniel of the Bible, have God-given learning and skill in all literature and wisdom (Daniel 1:17). Daniel and his friends found themselves in a godless society, yet we read that “in every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom” (verse 20).
I envision Cusceñans who, like Timothy, “from childhood have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus…” and are “complete, equipped for every good work” (2Timothy 3:15-17).
I envision a school that not only equips their students in these ways, but also helps parents learn to “train up a child in the way he should go [so that] even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).
This, I believe, is the God-given passion that I must steward for now in this lifetime. So as difficult and beyond me as this vision seems to be, I will choose to live by faith and not by sight, slowly taking baby steps and fixing my eyes on invisible kingdom that is coming.
“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day… as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” -2 Corinthians 4:16 & 18
- Laura Dougherty
No comments:
Post a Comment