abundance
Abundant life. Filled up, overflowing, uncontainable life. Rich, full, irrepressible life. Bubbling up, spilling out, abundant life. That's what I want. Life filled with the fullness of who He is. Life that is contagious. Life that is eternal. Life that is lived.
I have lived many, many years on the sidelines of life. I'm an adventurous person, but I'm also a practical person. I often allow my analytical side to overpower and control my creative, adventurous side. I have been content to do this, content with my idea of life. Content to live in perceived safety.
The problem with that is that my idea of life, well, it isn't really life. It isn't abundant. It's "safe," but it is also less. Why do I settle for having less than abundant life when that is the life that Jesus came to give me, to give us?
The thing about abundant life is that it is messy and complicated and risky. Abundant life cannot be lived without living from the heart, which means that the heart has to be made vulnerable. My self-protective instincts say that I don't want to risk my heart on something or someone that isn't a sure thing. But abundant life isn't made up of guarantees that brokenness won't affect you.
In fact, the almost certain guarantee of abundant life is that you will be broken. Jesus gave us the promise that in this life we will have troubles. The question isn't whether brokenness will happen. Brokenness, pain, hurt, they will happen. Accepting this truth the question then becomes, will I live abundantly in spite of brokenness?
Over the last year, I have been on a journey, one that has taken me from mourning to hurt to brokenness to change. And somewhere in the middle of all that I realized that despite my attempts to protect myself from brokenness I ended up broken anyway. My regret isn't the brokenness. My regret is that I missed out on abundance.
I have lived many, many years on the sidelines of life. I'm an adventurous person, but I'm also a practical person. I often allow my analytical side to overpower and control my creative, adventurous side. I have been content to do this, content with my idea of life. Content to live in perceived safety.
The problem with that is that my idea of life, well, it isn't really life. It isn't abundant. It's "safe," but it is also less. Why do I settle for having less than abundant life when that is the life that Jesus came to give me, to give us?
The thing about abundant life is that it is messy and complicated and risky. Abundant life cannot be lived without living from the heart, which means that the heart has to be made vulnerable. My self-protective instincts say that I don't want to risk my heart on something or someone that isn't a sure thing. But abundant life isn't made up of guarantees that brokenness won't affect you.
In fact, the almost certain guarantee of abundant life is that you will be broken. Jesus gave us the promise that in this life we will have troubles. The question isn't whether brokenness will happen. Brokenness, pain, hurt, they will happen. Accepting this truth the question then becomes, will I live abundantly in spite of brokenness?
Over the last year, I have been on a journey, one that has taken me from mourning to hurt to brokenness to change. And somewhere in the middle of all that I realized that despite my attempts to protect myself from brokenness I ended up broken anyway. My regret isn't the brokenness. My regret is that I missed out on abundance.
I'm done living like this. I'm done letting opportunities pass me by. I'm done letting circumstances dictate my life. I'm done with not taking risks, with being "safe." I'm done being contented with less than all the fullness of life abundantly lived.
And yes, that means that I know brokenness will come. I know that I will be hurt, and that as much as I don't want to, I will hurt others. But I will also live abundantly, and perhaps that overflowing, irrepressible life will become contagious and will invite others to live in that same abundance.
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