From Lauren:
I thought that I would share some of my thoughts/ revelations of what the Lord has been doing in my life.
From the day I was born (and probably most of us), I was raised by my family, my school, and by culture to get a college degree, use my brains to earn a living, get married, have children (in which I instill the same future), and make money so that I can afford way too many things.
-Isn't this the American Dream? Aren't we all supposed to work a 9-5 job with good insurance, TRY to own a house that we don't need/can't afford, send our kids in 500 different directions to 500 different extra activities, and have a good retirement package; because if you don't have those things you won't survive, won't be able to live.
I feel like we have taken some of the blessings and "lifeboats" that the Lord has given us and turned them into necessities. There is nothing evil about having 4 family cars, because God can use them to send us on his missions, but the absolute NEED for it can be evil. There is nothing wrong with working a conventional job with good insurance and retirement package, because God our Provider- Jehovah Jireh uses that job, but it is terribly wrong to box God in by saying that you can only be successful and "happy" if you live this American Dream life.
What if God has a different plan for our generation? What if we are called to break a generational curse of greed and self-reliance?
We have all used anti-bacterial hand soap. It is in every elementary school, hospital, and grocery store. This soap is so powerful that is cleans all the bad bacteria’s and germs that we encounter on a daily basis. Thanks to this soap we may have prevented a week in bed with the flu.
- There is a downside, not only have we gotten rid of our harmful bacteria’s, but we have also erased our immunity to them. Our natural ability to fight off these invaders is gone. This soap has become our sickness "savior".
This makes me think. Have we taken the safeguards and the protections God has given us: our homes, our nice clothes and cars, our insurance and retirement packages, and have turned them into our "saviors"? Do we no longer need Jehovah Jireh when we can provide for ourselves, when our jobs and our things take place of our Savior?
We all know that our economy is in the absolute pits. Why is this? Could it be because we are a greedy nation? Is it because we are so fixated on our American Dream that we forget to tithe, take care of the poor, and live a humble life?
I think that we have taken our American Dream and washed our hands in it so many times that we have lost our immunity to adversity, and boy is it here! No wonder America is freaking out over the economy! We don't know how to rely on anything but a retirement plan, let alone a Savior.
What if God is calling us to be a generation who lives within our means, not only that, but lives within the means of the job God has called us to, and not the one society tells us we need to have. It may be a conventional 9-5 job, it may not. Are we willing to say "yes Lord!" if he calls us to travel in a band that makes no money, or if he calls us to forsake our desires and trust that the plan he has for us is better, or if he calls us to give everything we have to the poor?
I don't know about y'all but I feel convicted. All my life I have set my goals to match the American Dream, when this very dream is the nightmare our nation has fallen into.
My hope is that we will be in hard and faithful prayer for each other and for our generation. If we don't wake up from the American Dream nightmare, we are going to miss out on the incredible, out of the box, plans the Lord has for our lives.
From the day I was born (and probably most of us), I was raised by my family, my school, and by culture to get a college degree, use my brains to earn a living, get married, have children (in which I instill the same future), and make money so that I can afford way too many things.
-Isn't this the American Dream? Aren't we all supposed to work a 9-5 job with good insurance, TRY to own a house that we don't need/can't afford, send our kids in 500 different directions to 500 different extra activities, and have a good retirement package; because if you don't have those things you won't survive, won't be able to live.
I feel like we have taken some of the blessings and "lifeboats" that the Lord has given us and turned them into necessities. There is nothing evil about having 4 family cars, because God can use them to send us on his missions, but the absolute NEED for it can be evil. There is nothing wrong with working a conventional job with good insurance and retirement package, because God our Provider- Jehovah Jireh uses that job, but it is terribly wrong to box God in by saying that you can only be successful and "happy" if you live this American Dream life.
What if God has a different plan for our generation? What if we are called to break a generational curse of greed and self-reliance?
We have all used anti-bacterial hand soap. It is in every elementary school, hospital, and grocery store. This soap is so powerful that is cleans all the bad bacteria’s and germs that we encounter on a daily basis. Thanks to this soap we may have prevented a week in bed with the flu.
- There is a downside, not only have we gotten rid of our harmful bacteria’s, but we have also erased our immunity to them. Our natural ability to fight off these invaders is gone. This soap has become our sickness "savior".
This makes me think. Have we taken the safeguards and the protections God has given us: our homes, our nice clothes and cars, our insurance and retirement packages, and have turned them into our "saviors"? Do we no longer need Jehovah Jireh when we can provide for ourselves, when our jobs and our things take place of our Savior?
We all know that our economy is in the absolute pits. Why is this? Could it be because we are a greedy nation? Is it because we are so fixated on our American Dream that we forget to tithe, take care of the poor, and live a humble life?
I think that we have taken our American Dream and washed our hands in it so many times that we have lost our immunity to adversity, and boy is it here! No wonder America is freaking out over the economy! We don't know how to rely on anything but a retirement plan, let alone a Savior.
What if God is calling us to be a generation who lives within our means, not only that, but lives within the means of the job God has called us to, and not the one society tells us we need to have. It may be a conventional 9-5 job, it may not. Are we willing to say "yes Lord!" if he calls us to travel in a band that makes no money, or if he calls us to forsake our desires and trust that the plan he has for us is better, or if he calls us to give everything we have to the poor?
I don't know about y'all but I feel convicted. All my life I have set my goals to match the American Dream, when this very dream is the nightmare our nation has fallen into.
My hope is that we will be in hard and faithful prayer for each other and for our generation. If we don't wake up from the American Dream nightmare, we are going to miss out on the incredible, out of the box, plans the Lord has for our lives.
I hope that my words were not my own.
Lauren, absolutely amazing, your insight is so wise, so accurate, so AMAZING.
ReplyDeleteI went to school with your Mom and Dad, and am so proud of them for raising such a Godly daughter. Keep your eyes up toward the sky, God has amazing plans for you, your goals, your dreams are yours if you continue to walk with God by your side.
GOD BLESS YOU LAUREN....I THINK HE ALREADY HAS!
Robin Garmany-Gordy
Good stuff! Just yesterday I went to a conference where Andy Stanley spoke on same of these same thoughts as it relates to the church. He said how at the beginning the church plant is willing to take risks and do whatever because it has nothing so there is nothing to loose.
ReplyDeleteThen, as we get money, staff, a building, etc we begin to close our hands and try to hold onto it and our goal becomes to protect a physical, material, thing rather than pursue the great commission. It's a little different idea, i know but this post made me think about it.