Take a Second

You know that movie? The one with that really good-looking actor? And he just totally makes the movie? Picture him. Strictly for the sake of example, I'll post a picture of Ryan Gosling:

You're welcome.

 Let's dream big here for a second, because dreaming big is okay. Let's say one day, that man hears about you; a friend of a friend of a friend mentions you to him:

"Yeah," the friend says, "I agree that the riot was definitely overboard. But I know this girl, who wrote this interesting blog post about the whole situation. You should read it."

McDreamy nods his head. "Yeah. I'd like to."

The friend pulls out his phone, quickly brings up the post, and the two read through it.

"Wow. She's pretty talented," McDreamy states. "You know her?"

"Yeah. Her cousin married my mom's step brother... Or something like that."

"Hmm."

Over the next few days, McDreamy can't get over you. He doesn't know why, but he keeps rereading your blog, trying to find out what you're about. He thinks you're witty. Smart. Beautiful. He thinks you're really going places.

But you're just average, like me. You might think you are pretty, good at writing, and nice, but beyond that, you're unsure if you are really going big places.

But what you don't know is that the talented, successful, good-looking McDreamy can't get you off his mind. The guy who made that chick flick the one to beat. The guy in the majority of pins on the "Man Candy" Pinterest boards! He's got his eye on you.

Snapback to reality. Collect yourself. Scenario number two.

Say you want to be a writer (yes, in case you haven't caught on, these are my fantasies.) You've got this one writer you look up to; she's brilliant. Let's just choose J. K. Rowling, the one sensational ideas "just come to." (Not that I'm jealous or anything.)

Say she runs into your fiction blog one day when surfing the internet... (Do I know for sure that millionaires such as Ms. Rowling do this? Of course not, but this is a fantasy so it doesn't really matter.) She really likes what she reads. She thinks you've got incredible potential. For one fateful second, she's even slightly jealous of your story. She thinks you'd make an excellent co-author.

The famous, wealthy, brilliant author wants to get to know you.

Snapback. While those ideas are nice to dwell on, I've got an even better one.

There's this other Guy. He's an artist, author, director and more. Let's just say, his resume would pretty much knock out every contender without problem. And you're all for that; you like intelligence. He has painted thousands of sunsets, each one different from the last. He's designed systems so complex that it has taken thousands of years and hundreds of scientists to decipher them. But he didn't just design systems; in fact, He designed everything. But the wild thing is, He doesn't just want to know about you, He wants to really know you. He wants to know every nook and cranny of who you are, good and the bad. He wants you to lay in bed at night and tell him about your day. He wants you to tell him about your problems so that He can help you. He wants you to want to know Him too.

God's love for us is so powerful. It can do more things than love from a movie star or author could ever do. So why do we downplay it so much? 

"God loves you, Glennleigh."

"I know. I've heard it a million times..."

vs.

"Glennleigh! Ryan said he wants to get to know you!"

"What?! Oh my gosh! IS this real life?!"

Take a second to realize that God's resume is more impressive than Ryan Gosling's will ever be. God's love can do more for you than love from any man or woman. Don't depreciate love from the greatest Author, Director, and Artist of all time; it's a big deal. 

This love is extended to everyone. So don't waste your time on other fantasies, because you and I are the target of the the greatest love story of all time.

"And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think."

Ephesians 3: 18-20