“We are born with dreams, and some of us have detailed plans about how to make them happen. Yet we all come to a point in life when we realize that we are not in control. No matter what our hopes, dreams, or goals in life, there comes a time when we feel overlooked or forgotten.”
Meredith McDaniel, In Want + Plenty: Waking Up to God’s Provision in a Land of Longing
Becoming Stronger in Want + Plenty
I loved every single moment I had with Meredith as we taped Becoming Stronger in Want + Plenty.
On page 30 in her book, In Want + Plenty, author Meredith McDaniel writes:
“The words of Scripture and a persistent stirring in my soul often remind me that we were made for more than this. We were made for more than this inability to enjoy the moment and the gifts right before us due to our stubborn focus on what is missing. As I think back to the garden of Eden and imagine the beauty and freedom Adam and Eve experienced before brokenness entered our world, I am jealous. They glimpsed God’s glory!
Can you picture a world without pain and suffering?
Or a world without the need to hide?
Pause there for a second and really envision what that would be like. It’s hard to wrap our mind around a world like that, isn’t it?
What we see today is the brokenness of an overgrown garden as vines entangle and choke out the life of God’s greatest creation — us.
Every day we tend to fall into living out of our false self, a cheapened version of God’s best for us.”
A Cheapened Version of God’s Best for Us
That one sentence takes my breath away. So I repeat:
“Every day we tend to fall into living out of our false self, a cheapened version of God’s best for us.”
Meredith and I didn’t get to talk about this in our podcast episode, but maybe she’ll return and help us explore this more.
We can’t…hear me, dear Heartlifter, LIVE A CHEAPENED VERSION OF GOD’S BEST FOR US.
What does that look like in our life today?
Does it look like doing the hard, heart work necessary to make our way home to Heaven’s truths about us?
Does it look like getting up every morning and standing on lessons learned in our past (suitcase), standing on this present moment (the clock), standing on guidance and wisdom and truth and help (the book), standing on time set apart to practice silence, stillness, and solitude (the teapot), and standing on God’s sense of wonder and curiosity and joy (the butterfly net)?
Becoming Stronger in Want + Plenty
As you listen to this episode, reflect on its content, and consider the questions written above, share your thoughts with us. Let’s talk about this. Let’s release any and all tendencies to live the cheapened version of God’s best for us.
Listen to the podcast episode right here
Learn more about Meredith’s Counseling Practice
Meredith’s book is on KINDLE for .99
And, if you need a little extra on FORGIVE & FORGET, visit the archived show notes: