Holy Fantasy

I have someone very dear to me who is really having a hard time with…, well, life in general. They recently told me that although they love Jesus and desire to follow him, they just can’t seem to “get it together.” Destructive relationships, substance abuse, struggles of all kinds, you name it; they are in a bad way. Well, unbeknownst to them, I rode by their house the other day. I didn’t knock or go in. They never even knew I was there. I just sat in the car for a moment. And as I sat there, I began to fantasize about what I’d like to do for them.

I thought to myself that if I had the means to do it, I’d go up, knock on the door, tell them to pack up their stuff, say goodbye to _ _ _ _ _ _, and move them in with me. As I thought about this, I realized that my moving them in with me would only really change their environment. The initial move would not somehow magically make them “change.” If I did that, if I were to take them out of their circumstances, I would need to do so with an understanding that the move was only the first step. I would have to commit for the long haul.  They would mess up. They would stumble. They may even resist my influence even after I reached out for them. Chances are, they would probably sneak back over and see _ _ _ _ _ _ again. But I thought to myself, I don’t care, I love them, and what ever it took to help them- I would do it. That’s when the Spirit whispered to me.

Can you believe that God has “fantasized” about you? Before the world was ever created, he saw you in Jesus, filled with his very life. He saw you experiencing the very fellowship of the Father, Son and Spirit. And the cool thing is, he does have the means whereby to make his “fantasy” reality. He loves you, and when he draws your heart to himself, he does so knowing full well that the initial “move” is only the first step. He knows you will stumble, struggle, resist and probably sneak back over to see _ _ _ _ _ _ again. He KNOWS all these things going into it, so don’t believe the lie that because of your struggles he may give up and abandon you. He is committed to complete the work he began in you when he came and moved you out of your reality into his. This may sound strange, even offensive to some, but the Father would no more leave you than he would Jesus. Think about that!!

Jesus was praying and said,“[Father], I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.” (John 17)