Darkness Before the Treasure

In a world of time-lines, we often forget that it is God that defines our legacy. Success is equated by measuring accomplisments in comparison to those around us. Highschool, College, Dating, Engagements, Weddings, Children, possessions. We are so used to measuring qualifications by status-quo. You do all the right things, you follow the expectations of those around you, you achieve success by the world's standards and yet deep inside it never feels enough--you constantly feel in waiting for something more.

We are all free spirits designed to fly in a big open world and yet we close ourselves in, wings touching, so scared to fly alone, to be distanced from what seems acceptable. Loneliness, independence, freedom, individuality, passion have all become words that though sound strong, are very rarely ever acceptable. In a world of networks, marketing methods, and an ever changing technology era, contentment is not money making, uniqueness is hard to target. We live for a feeling of pride, accomplishment, and acceptance that we sacrifice our own feelings, our own desires, and our own self-confidence. So much resentment, bitterness, and anger grow in our hearts because we resent this world that keeps our souls from flying free.

We are all exhausted, desperate for a break but have to keep going for fear of being passed up and passed by. "Make time for the quiet moments as God whispers and the world is loud."
There is peace and rest in this moment. It doesn't take an escape or an adventure, its quite simple--it takes the trust of being able to let go of all the world's expectations and to hold on to God when the world distances itself from this unknown concept.

There is often independence in loneliness, passion along the unbeaten path, and joy in that which doesn't always result in happiness. We weren't created to follow a status-quo, we weren't born to live lives defined by someone else's definition of success. We were created as individuals, with a unique purpose, a deep seeded passion for the things that define us through God and not by this world.

I will always live a failed life if I live for the approval of others or by another individual's standards. Their story is not my own. The closer I come to paralleling the status-quo, the further I go from being who I was uniquely created to be. Have we ever stopped to think that maybe those who suffer from depression or anxiety aren't the ones with problems in this world? Maybe they actually understand that there is more to this life than that which graces the cover of a magazine. They fight the battle within to search, long, and desire to be more, to fight the world's standards, and to find an inner peace that is unique to them. We try to cure this by a common pill but the only cure is to find self acceptance in dropping the expectations, fight, and constant need for the world's acceptance.

Slipping away into silence, falling into the shadows does not represent darkness and emptiness. Explorers first encounter darkness before they find their treasure. The dark signifies the unknown, the uncharted territory that others haven't dared to find. There can be fear but that is part of the adventure of life. Depression and anxiety sink in when we keep ourselves from discovering what is beyond the darkness, when we hold ourselves back with fear. God calls us to live boldly and with confidence. He is our light in this world of darkness.
There is freedom in Christ.
This world holds us back from our place by Christ's side--it is His journey we are to follow and not the path that history tells us to follow.
History is defined by those bold enough to create change. Be the change you hope to see tomorrow.