11:11

make a wish!

it seems like i always look at the clock when it says 11:11. and i always make a wish. just for fun. like blowing out the candles on your birthday cake. it doesn't really mean anything, but do you ever wish it did? that making a wish on a shooting star or on your birthday candles or on 11:11 was all it took for some magic to happen in your life?

wishing is almost romanticized these days. it's all happy-go-lucky and frills and twirls with pink icing on top. life is a cupcake with rainbow sprinkles. that's the over-optimistic view. take the opposing view and life is a dark raincloud where wishes are meaningless and the only way anyone's dreams are realized is by their own sweat and tears. hard work and achievement are the only roads to success.

but where does the Christian fit in all this?

where does God fit in all this?

God could be the genie in a bottle granting wishes when you're in the right place at the right time...or He could be the grave judge watching down from the universe and taking pleasure in our struggles to find happiness.

neither are really true. i think these perceptions of God are the results of a God-less society. whether life is a cupcake or a dark raincloud, these viewpoints don't exactly leave room for a sovereign God. or the concept of faith to trust Him.

i'm not saying don't make a wish when you blow out your birthday candles...wishing is fun. the idea that wishing on something frivolous will make the wish come true...i do it all the time! i just think that whether we realize it or not, we as Christians can easily fall into the cupcake view or the raincloud view and forget about trusting and following God. on the other hand...there is a need for a certain amount of optimism and pessimism in life. combine finding that balance with listening to the Lord and everything can seem a bit confusing...

i think i'm there.

and so for the sake of irony i'll make a wish on 11:11 that i can somehow discover that balance :)