Does God care about you having fun? Does he care about you doing things you love to do? Does he want you to enjoy life?
Yes – as long as it doesn’t become the entire objective of your life. As long as God still gets first place, fun is one of those things that he gives us as a result. Our Bibles are full of scriptures that tell us of the joy and pleasures in the presence of God. Does that only apply to Heaven after this miserable life? No. Jesus even taught us to pray that God’s kingdom come here ...
Does God care about you having fun? Does he care about you doing things you love to do? Does he want you to enjoy life?
Yes – as long as it doesn’t become the entire objective of your life. As long as God still gets first place, fun is one of those things that he gives us as a result. Our Bibles are full of scriptures that tell us of the joy and pleasures in the presence of God. Does that only apply to Heaven after this miserable life? No. Jesus even taught us to pray that God’s kingdom come here on earth as it is in heaven. Joy and pleasures here – how? Well, we can be in God’s presence now, and when we are, we get to enjoy the fullness of life.
Look at creation and you’ll understand God’s nature. He loves beautiful things. He loves mysterious things. He loves quirky and bizarre things. Watch a few episodes of Planet Earth and you will see God’s fun nature on full display. He was having fun creating this world, now he invites you and I in on the fun.
Misery is always an option, but it’s never a good one. The enemy of your soul loves to make you feel like the best stuff in life must come in rebellion to God. Like you can’t have fun and follow Jesus at the same time. Hmmmmm … hang around with me for a day and I think we can prove the devil wrong. We can follow Jesus into some wild, faith-filled spaces we could never reach alone, and we can be the funnest girls there!
Fun is my middle name. It’s actually my job. It’s my calling. I create fun for people and then I invite them to play. And ultimately in the fun, we experience the love of God and the joy of Jesus. I can’t spread the love of God and the joy of Jesus by being miserable and turning everything into a dreaded burden. And my friend, you can’t either.
We are here as the representatives of Jesus. Represent him well! When Jesus walked in a room, people gathered. Heck, they even tore the roof off a house to get in a crowded room with Jesus. He had something radically different and that energy was felt in his presence. Now, we carry that same Spirit of energy. Don’t dampen it. Revive it. Unleash it. People are drawn in by that positive energy and fun vibe and you can then easily point them to Jesus.
Jesus said in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Understand that Jesus not only offers a full and abundant life in Heaven, but he offers a full and overflowing life right here and now. The way you live your life is what brings Heaven to Earth. You’re here to represent Jesus – Is he remotely appealing to others when they look at you?
In the final hours of my Daddy’s life, the veil between Heaven and Earth had grown very thin and while laying in that hospital room, he could experience Heaven. Fully aware, he told us what he saw and experienced. My Dad let out deep belly laughs and giggles as he said, “Jesus is so funny! Everyone is so happy here!” I believe that with every ounce of me. And I believe we are called to represent Heaven here on Earth.
So, let’s look at 4 scriptures for our FUN Goals and confidently write a few goals we don’t have to feel guilty over in our fun.
Scripture 1: Psalm 90:12 TPT, “Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are; help us to spend them as we should.”
When you realize just how fast this life goes by and how limited your days really are, you recognize the value in each day and you are no longer willing to waste your days. Girls, let’s make these days count.
Have you ever noticed how it feels like time goes so much faster than it used to? And we all feel that way. Why is that? Well, there’s actually a scientific reasoning behind it. When you were a kid it seemed like an eternity from one birthday to the next, right? And now it feels like your birthdays come around so much faster. Here’s why. When you’re 8 years old, you only have 10 years of life experience to compare 1 year to. 1 year represents 1/10 of your entire life. It’s bigger to you. But, when you’re 40, 1 year is only 1/40th of your life, so it seems smaller in comparison, therefore going by faster.
Now, here’s what you need to know – the older you get, the faster time will continue to go. If one year goes this fast at your age already, imagine 20 or 30 more years from now how you’ll blink and there goes another year. And that means your time to do everything you wanted to do with this one life is running out faster than you imagined.
We don’t have to live in fear of running out of time when we live in awareness of the value and brevity of our days.
My absolute favorite movie to watch at the beginning of a new year is “About Time” with Rachel McAdams. Without spoiling the movie, it’s about a family where the men are time travelers and no one else knows about their secret talent. They can travel back and experience the same day over and over again, perfecting it to live it as the wish. And in the process, there’s a valuable lesson taught. If you live it right the first time, once is enough. If you treasure the full value of the day as you have it, you don’t have to go back.
As an older mom now, I would love to go back and experience my kids being little for one more day. I would love to hear their feet running across the floor and experience their little hand in my hand again. If I could get a return ticket to that time, I would just sit in those moments and savor them fully. I didn’t treasure it for what it was when I had it. I was rushing through life, wishing the days would go faster.
But now, I’ve learned to live different. I’ve learned the secret of treating moments as if they were my return ticket to the ordinary days and making them extraordinary with my full presence and intention. I don’t rush through them anymore because I’m fully aware the day will come in the future when I would give anything to have this moment back. Yes, this moment – the one I have today. So while I have it and while I’m here, I’m learning to treasure it like a return ticket to what will never be again.
GOALS:
• Savor the ordinary and make it extraordinary.
• Number and appreciate my days like a return ticket.
• Take full advantage of the time God gives.
• Slow down and savor my moments.
Scripture 2: Ecclesiastes 3: 12-13, “There is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God.”
Here’s the huge key in this – the gift from God cannot become more important than God. The point of life cannot be chasing happiness, eating and drinking. Don’t twist this scripture to fit your desired habits.
God has given us this life to live and he’s surrounded us with beauty and blessings to make it better. These are God’s gifts to us, enjoy them in a way that honors him.
GOALS:
• Honor God with my joy.
• Enjoy God’s gifts fully.
Scripture 3: Jesus said in Matthew 5: 14-15, “You are the light of the world – like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under as basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house.”
God has put a light within you, and that light is supposed to shine the love and joy of Jesus. Honey, is your light shining? There’s something different in you, but is that something different showing through you? Could a stranger recognize the Holy Spirit’s light in you with a brief encounter?
You were not given this light to be hidden. You were given this light to shine. Shine in the way you live your ordinary days. Shine in the way you get giddy over the smallest things. Shine in the way you stand in awe and wonder over God’s creation. Shine in the way you invite others into the joy and make it more about Jesus than it is about you.
GOALS:
• Shine bright and don’t dim the light.
• Be different than the world.
• Unleash my giddy and live in awe.
Scripture 4: 2 Corinthians 6: 11-13 MSG, “I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’ve been living them in a small way … Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!”
When God created you, he didn’t say, “Gosh, I hope she will settle for a little, okay life.” You were never designed to be a glorified bill payer, repeating the same tasks over and over again, numb to it all. No, when God made you, he said, “She’s a masterpiece – now I want her to live BIG!”
The truth is, most of us are not truly overwhelmed with life like we say we are – the truth is, we are actually underwhelmed with life. Life has become so small, so routine, so predictable and so mind-numbingly boring, that even the smallest problems look really big and overwhelming in our little underwhelming world. The solution isn’t to create a simple, little life with no problems. The solution is to live a BIG Life where your problems aren’t allowed to overwhelm you.
Stop living little, my friend. You were given this one lifetime in which to do everything you will ever do – Are you doing it? What is it you’ve been dreaming of doing – Well, are you ever going to do it? What beautiful thing have you still not seen – Well, when are you going to get around to seeing it?
In my experience, God loves to say YES when our priorities are right and we’re seeking him first. His desire is not for us to live little, shut in lives that just one day finally end so we can go to Heaven. His desire is for us to make the most of this life we’ve been given, make a big deal out of him, and leave a wake of impact all around us!
So, the question is – what are you going to do with this one life you have been given?
GOALS:
• Live BIG! Stop playing little and start showing up!
• Say yes to life.
• Dare to dream with God again.
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