Think Different—Towards a Theology of Potential and Chaos

Scripture:

“When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed.”

—Psalm 126:1

Observation:

What do you want to be when you grow up? Is a question with such potential and possibility as a child. You can be what ever your imagination can conceive. The answers to this question are as varied as the children asked. Children have this natural ability to dream huge dreams. The older they get the more the world tells them that those dreams are unrealistic. Society begins to define a child’s potential and what is possible for them. The people who change the world are men and women who never let themselves be robbed of the ability to dream of the impossible. I love this quote from the Apple Think Different ad campaign,

Here's To The Crazy Ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world—are the ones who DO!

This ad talks about the potential of dreaming, of not allowing society to set your boundaries. The Psalms of ascent like the one quoted above are about the possibility of future. They are about the potential found in hope. They are about dreaming about a better future; a future that cannot be contained by today. This hope in God allows us to be a people who dream God sized dreams.

Application:

I heard a great sermon the other night about God in the darkness. The main point of the message, or at least the point I took home from it, was if you have lost sight of your purpose, it is because you have lost sight of Christ. Christ is always in the midst of the darkness, in the middle of the chaos of this world, trying to wade out of the darkness will not reveal Christ, but being still in the darkness will allow Christ to reveal himself to you. Existing in the space of the unknown, living in the impossibility allows Christ to be revealed. If we are looking for Christ in the normalcy of the status quo he is not there. Christ is calling us into the unknown, into a future undefined by us, thus thrusting us into a reality that is about the impossible becoming possible and dreams that come true. The monotony of normal quenches the Spirit, and robs us of our ability to dream. Focusing on Christ is existing in the space of unlimited potentiality, where any and everything is possible. That is the space I want to exist in with my eyes fully focused on Christ.  

Prayer:

Lord, help me to dream God sized dreams. Help me to never be limited by the normalcy of the status quo, but to always expect that which is beyond what I could possibly imagine. Let me imagine the grandest and then say bigger, better, and more impossible. In the name of Jesus I pray Amen…