Katie Nelson

There’s this overwhelming Truth that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, but really struggling to put into words… It’s like I’m approaching the peak of a mountain that I’ve perhaps been climbing for years… I see it in the distance…perhaps I’ve made it to the top… but I’m still wondering- how do you put into words what you now see?

Answer: You don’t.

The Holy Spirit plants and unwraps gifts of Truth in your soul. You feel them. You don’t speak them.

At least not at first.

But then you pray for the words to articulate it, I guess. Because you have to find a way…I can’t not share good news… (This is something else I’ve been thinking about a lot lately… as humans, we’re wired to want to share Good News. Like I had to poke the guy sitting next to me on a flight I took recently and tell him to look at the sunset. It was gorgeous. He didn’t seem to care, and honestly, I figured he wouldn’t– but I had to try. I had to at least give him the chance to see it. Keeping the beauty of it to myself was torturous, it was eating my soul. For real, we have to share with someone if we’ve experienced a delightful new restaurant or heard an amazing new song or something good happened at work… I’m becoming more and more convinced that a sharing cell is tightly woven in among molecules and strands and all sorts of other sciencey stuff that I don’t understand but people tell me comprises our DNA. We are meant to share.)

Anyway, the good news that I’m talking about— this new discovery, this mountaintop revelation is that the American Dream is a sham.

I feel completely un-American saying it. But I guess I don’t care because my allegiance isn’t first and foremost to America’s Dream. (I feel my grandma cringing as I type this…) Don’t get me wrong, I love America. Seriously, it’s my family- my homeland if you will. I hope I’m allowed to love America without loving it’s Dream… But I guess it doesn’t matter. Ultimately, my allegiance first and foremost is to my God.

This feels incredibly controversial to type. Let me divulge further…

After reading the blog post “I don’t wait anymore,” and walking through certain life experiences, the Holy Spirit has helped me to realize…

We idolize the American Dream.

(I hate generalizing like that because surely someone will say, “I don’t!” Totally fine, but if you’re up for it I ask you to go with me even though I’m offending you…I appreciate your grace…)

We idolize the American Dream. We are distraught and unhappy when we don’t have a husband and a “settle-down” life. This is understandably upsetting because we are convinced this is the meaning of life- to live 80 years with the love of our life and our darling children. We think this will bring satisfaction.

Why is that?

We were made for so much more.

No wonder we’re discontent: living mediocre lives, chasing fulfillment in a job while we wait… living a routine that’s dull- all in hopes that God will provide something or someone to level us up in the game of life so that we can unlock new stages of joy.

We were made for so much more.

I think God is revealing to me that we are fighting a constant battle against discontentment, but it’s a war we were never meant to endure.

We’re supposed to battle… just not for the perfect husband or wife, a nicer car, a job that pays us more, a job that brings us more joy, a job that makes us feel fulfilled for now, or contentment for where we’re at for the sake of what God will bring us next…

Yes, we’re supposed to battle.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”-Ephesians 6:10-12

Instead of living our lives fighting discontentment, striving to gain contentment from things that were never meant to bring contentment… What if we gave it all up for a grand adventure, for a worthy cause, for the Father? Why do we keep searching to find a hole to shove our hearts into when they were meant to be poured out and fill the entire world?

“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” -Matthew 5:14-16

What if instead of being frustrated that God wasn’t giving us the life that we pictured…the American Dream where we feel better and worse about ourselves simultaneously as we compare our lives with those around us and try constantly to obtain and strive for 2.5 kids and become distraught daily over what we don’t have…

What if instead

we got a new dream?

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”-Matthew 28:18-20

I think God must look down at us and shake His head- not in disapproval necessarily but in sadness. Sad that His beautiful children that He’s adopted continue to try to make Him fit into an American Apparel “World’s Best Dad” t-shirt when He’s actually universal, stretching from beginning to end, alpha and omega… beyond anything we can comprehend.

What if we clung to His everlasting unchanging enduring Word instead of America’s dream?

I think life would make a lot more sense.

God would make a lot more sense.

He’s as good as He seems in Psalm 19.

The law of the Lord is perfect,
    reviving the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
    making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
    giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
    giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is pure,
    enduring forever.
The ordinances of the Lord are sure
    and altogether righteous.
They are more precious than gold,
    than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
    than honey from the comb.
By them is your servant warned;
    in keeping them there is great reward. -Psalm 19:7-11

Unlike the facade of

a short lived

white picket fence

and shallow

American Dream…

He says what He means.

—-

We were meant for so much more.

Therefore Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. -John 10:7-10