Day 354 - Cosmic Joke

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Victor Borge, famed comedian, conductor and pianist once said, “Humor is something that thrives between man's aspirations and his limitations. There is more logic in humor than in anything else. Because, you see, humor is truth.”

I have often heard it said that God has an amazing sense of humor. I think Mr. Borge would agree, judging from his quote above. I love the thought that humor resides between what we think we can do and what we are actually capable of doing. I happen to think it is precisely in that place of humor that victim thinking can sneak in if we aren't too careful. Let me explain what I mean by that.

I wish it were always funny when I can't do what I think I'm capable of doing. How many times have you come to that place where your abilities seem to be dwarfed by your challenges? This is where I think God's sense of humor comes into play. You see, we have been instilled with dreams and aspirations way beyond our means. We are made in the very image of God. God is gigantic! It stands to reason that, if we carry the image of God inside of us, when why wouldn't we have dreams and aspirations that match His size? Here's where Mr. Borge's quote comes into play.

It is comical to watch something the size of an ant try and carry a dream as big as the universe. Yet, that's what we often think we are suppose to be doing in order to let victory be what defines our victor status. Thinking that it is up to us to make an identity that can make happen the God-sized aspirations placed there by Him is such a victim making proposition.

It was quoted earlier, "...humor is truth." When it comes to the humor in thinking that we can make our identities be what they need to be in order to make our destiny all it is suppose to be, truth is the foundation for this kind of comical thinking. As silly as this is, we tend to fall victim to this kind of humor over and over again. It just doesn't have to be this way.

God isn't like an adolescent bent on pulling off the perfect practical joke in you life. He isn't up there belly laughing at our failed attempts at making happen the profound ambitions in our hearts come to reality. He wants us to recognize the unbridgeable gap between our aspirations and abilities and let Him be all we need to make happen the big things He has placed in our hearts. Surrendering that gap to Him is the only way we can live like the victors He has called us to be all the time in our lives.

Victim thinking can't help but to be the result when we come face to face with the fact that we just aren't able to make happen all the dreams that are in our heart. It is when we think we have somehow failed that we surrender to victim thinking ways.

God sees it so differently. He lives in us. He is there to make those impossible dreams a distinct possibility. It is when we forget that He doesn't need us to make those dreams happen that we tend to get ourselves into trouble. God doesn't need us to make dreams happen. He longs for us to go on the journey with Him to make those dreams come to life. With God, it is always about relationship. It is never about getting things done. God is perfectly capable to do all He wants to get done in this world. He just wants us to go with Him as He gets done all He wants in and through our lives.

Today's Bible reading helps me see life from God's perspective. Take a look at our reading with me now.

He forgives your sins—every one.
    He heals your diseases—every one.
    He redeems you from hell—saves your life!
    He crowns you with love and mercy—a paradise crown.
    He wraps you in goodness—beauty eternal.
    He renews your youth—you’re always young in his presence.
God makes everything come out right;
    he puts victims back on their feet. Psalm 103:3-6 (MSG)

I almost didn't put that last line in today's reading. It is way to easy to turn today's reading into a formula for success. It sounds as though God is saying that those things that make us feel like victims will be taken away. Funny thing is, they will! In heaven, we will never be victimized in any way, ever.

God's sense of humor is very obvious to me in today's reading. When it says he makes everything come out right, I have to laugh. I can list off ten things in my life right now that aren't coming our right at all. Most of those things are not happening the way I want because of the gap between my aspirations and my abilities to make those aspirations happen. It is when I focus my eyes on the real prize that this gap becomes something jokes can be made of without it seeming so hurtful to me.

What's the real prize? It is a walk with God. Our prize isn't success. Our award isn't making this life be all we want it to be. Sure, that's the award I want, but that just isn't what is guaranteed on this side of heaven.

It is this walk with God that is the complete fulfillment of what God wants for us in this world. When it comes to making our dreams happen, God's presence is the only aspiration where our ability doesn't strike our funny bone as we strive to make our aspirations happen. God's presence is always there, no matter how good we might think we are at making His presence happen in our lives.

Next time you think or say, "God has a funny sense of humor." remember what makes it possible for humor to be seen in what you do in your life. Stop thinking that it is up to you to make the dreams in your heart happen. Settle into the unforced rhythms of God's grace. Let Him lead the way. Trying to make happen all God has put in your heart with the abilities you have been given makes you nothing more than the punch line of a joke you just weren't meant to get in the first place. Be all God says you are by resting in what He does. Let your victor status come alive by allowing God to do all He wants to do in and through your life today.