If I Could Have One Wish…….

I remember overhearing a conversation between my two youngest grandsons. Brennan, asked his younger brother, Bryson, "If you had a genie in a bottle, what would you wish for?" They certainly earned love tokens when they both said: "For Nana to live with us forever!" They had some other outlandish wishes, but that one put a big smile on this Nana's face.

That conversation and memory made me think about what I would ask for today if a genie in a bottle showed up to grant me one wish, or even if God showed up and asked what one prayer could He answer for me today. How about you? What would YOU ask for? What does YOUR heart long for the most? No doubt, our answers would vary: More time in the day? A healed body? A restored relationship? A financial breakthrough? A child? A spouse? Strength to make it through this day? A dream vacation? World peace?

King David’s son, Solomon, was asked by God what one thing He could grant him. King Solomon responded: "wisdom to lead God’s people." Evidently, God liked that response because He gave him a wise and discerning mind. And Solomon became known as the wisest man in all of Israel. People from far and wide came to him for his wisdom. (1 Kings 3)

King David's wish (or ask) went like this: “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.” (Psalm 27:4) I am drawn to the “one thing” David asked of God — to dwell in His house forever. More than anything, David longed to be in God’s presence. No wonder he was called “a man after God’s own heart.” David experienced many highs and lows in his life, but I think his life's theme was a singular longing to be in God’s presence.

In my blog yesterday, I spoke about being in God’s presence – how in His presence, we will know what to do, where to go and even what to say – because in His presence is the answer for everything. That is “my wish” and my prayer today, that our hearts will be filled with this one thing . . . a desire to dwell in His presence. I’m pretty sure God delights in lavishing His love upon us. In fact, Jesus tells us God takes it to a level beyond anything any parent has ever done for their children. After all, He has already been more generous toward us than we will ever deserve. To live daily practicing His presence creates plenty of opportunities for God to show up and show out. No, He's not a Genie or Fairy Godmother, but He is the God in WHOM all things are possible. What better place to be than in His presence?

Play the Movie

Since I’m on the road so much, I’ve become an avid audiobook listener. A friend recommended that I listen to Dr. Henry Cloud’s book “9 Things You Simply Must Do….to Succeed in Love and Life”. Dr. Cloud is a Christian psychologist and his audiobook intrigued and inspired me, especially with his principle of “Play the Movie”.

“Playing the Movie,” is the practice of seeing the end before making decisions. It’s like “think before you speak or act”. because the outcome might be good or it can be very, very bad.

Listening to this audiobook, I realized, that on a daily basis, I should be “playing the movie” forward in decisions I’m making, in the “Yes’s or No’s” that I give, the responses that I have when in a conflict, and when making healthy and fitness choices, or not. "Playing the movie" is envisioning the outcome before taking action. It’s also like the law of cause and effect. For example: "I would love to stay up and watch that TV special, but how will it feel tomorrow if I stay up late? Or, "This dress looks great on me, but how will it feel next month when I have to pay the Visa bill?"

What if that individual “played the movie” before he was tempted to steal that item from the store. Maybe "playing the movie" would keep him from making a bad decision that would cause him to go to jail, or even worse, to lose his family and reputation. In the middle of an argument, we may want to blow off steam, but when we "play the movie" we'll ask ourselves "Where will this end up if I say that? Silence is golden. I'll choose silence."

What if that young nursing student who just couldn’t deal with so much studying because she wanted to have more freedom to hang out with her friends, “played the movie”? She saw herself in the movie foregoing “the fun” because she didn’t quit. She saw herself graduating nursing school and scoring that job in a well-known cardiologist’s office and she did so well that she soon became a nurse practitioner and achieved many awards and accolades. Playing that movie would help her to stay the course and press through because it would be worth the sacrifice in the end.

What if we “played the movie” before buying the fishing boat on credit? Maybe the movie showed that they really didn’t have enough time to spend at the lake or the temptations it would be to miss church on the weekends or the extra hours that they would have to work to pay off the boat on credit and the hours away from the family because of those extra hours working?

I'm owning this concept of “playing the movie” because it gives me a reality checkpoint! Just maybe “playing the movie” can be a significant principle that will keep us on track in a positive way and keep us dialed into God's ways that are so much higher than our ways!
Proverbs 21:20-22 “The wise man saves for the future, the foolish man spends whatever he gets. The man who tries to be good, loving and kind finds life, righteousness, and honor.”