First and foremost a question has been brought to my mind the last couple of weeks. What inspires me? When I take a look back on the seasons of my life that felt at best, uninspired and at worse un driven to complete any given task. This is only a small portion of my life but I want to truly focus and share what God is and has been revealing to me about inspiration. I think we all can agree that kind words of encouragement help us in times of desperate need. The more that I have sat with the father in this process the more intricate it has become. I see many different ways to inspire people and so another question came to my heart. What does it look like to live an inspiring life?
This one question can be pondered on and seen from so many different perspectives and outlooks. I would love to share with you what I feel the lord has revealed to me about living such a life. For most of our young lives we play and make friends all the while dreaming and at times acting these dreams out. I want to share a personal story with you. It may help you remember some of the childhood dreams you lived out. I was around ten years old when this particular dream became a reality. I grew up with many siblings and family friends. This event happened with Tony, myself and my brother kyle. We were always dreamers and were blessed enough to have land to create what we had dreamed of. Ok enough rambling. We woke up and somehow started to talk about the guys that would make barrels and get in them to then drop off of Niagara falls.( the biggest waterfall in the states) Well where I grew up we had drainage ditches for the farmers nearby. When the water really came through it was about 4ft deep. This day was cold and I can remember being so excited about the stories we talked about. I decided that I myself wanted to drop off the waterfall in a barrel. The truth is most of the people that did it died. I was too far away from any waterfall to walk and I knew my parents would not approve and drive me to one. (this is early spring and the days and nights were fairly cold). We had horses and so we set out to find a big barrel that we would fit in. Then this amazing miracle happened and sure enough I found a big blue 50 gallon water barrel. The best part about it was the top had already been cut off.
If we had not found this barrel we may have been discouraged but because I was so dedicated to finding this barrel when we did my heart came alive. Creativity has played a huge role in my life and a strong focal point in my heart. So let me just recap really quick 3 boys, one big barrel and a fast flowing drainage ditch oh and almost forgot inspiration. So we went into the house to ask for some or maybe we just took them, but somehow we got blankets and pillows. We started to create this barrel as if we were going to send it down a waterfall. Oh and I almost forgot to mention we had to fix a hole and all we could think of is duct tape. So we get this barrel all ready to launch into the ditch.
It has pillows and blankets stuffed inside and the only question the 3 of us had was, who is first? Well being the good brother that I am I volunteered my brother kyle. He gets in and sure enough the water is moving fast and that bucket tipped right over nearly holding my brother under the freezing cold water. Wow me and Tony thought after getting him out/ letting him get up. We need an oar! something to stabilize the barrel as we drift down. So round 2 no blankets they were too cold and wet, we found a piece of an old fence to use as our ore. It was my turn and man I was excited my brother took the test run and I now get to make it to the end of the ditch. I got in and off I went trying my hardest to keep upright. The current of the water swept me away rather quickly and I was fully unaware that at the end of the ditch there was a drop off. I hit the drop off only about 1 ft drop and down I went into the freezing cold water. I found that there was a suction holding me down from the water coming into the barrel. I panicked and then when the barrel filled up all the way I was able to get out. This day is remembered in my heart as the day the barrel won. this memorie has very little to do with the actual inspiration of taking a barrel down a waterfall. It has more to do with living out what is placed within our hearts.
It’s an interesting subject inspiration. Each of us find our inspiration from different things in our daily lives. I think that when I look back at the difference in my heart posture there is one huge change that has become very clear. My dreams have faded and no longer do I allow them to inspire me. I think that the reason for this fading is the world’s reality not intended to be mine. My dreams have really come to surface the last couple of weeks. I can be driven to do anything that is placed on my heart. But what can I do when I feel that nothing has been placed on my heart? How do I find inspiration when I feel un driven or at a loss? It’s the questions that I believe have a place in each of our lives. I don’t just get inspired by remaining in stillness it takes movement. Much like my story, inspiration came from talking with others. In my current season I have bound myself and not allowed momentum to be cultivated in my daily life. This is truly something that I know not to do and found myself wrestling with inspiration. The hard things throughout my day become easy when I continue to allow God into my broken life. It’s easy to know what to do, but in the moment do otherwise. The apostle Paul talks about this. I am now starting to understand that inspiration can be from any given thing or person in our lives. Inspiration comes and goes much like the wind and what we are left with is God. This season has taught me that if my inspiration comes from God then I will be consistently consumed by inspiration. It’s a perspective of purpose in all seasons of my life that continually allows me to grow into a deeper relationship with the father. It’s been a hard season without a doubt and I’m thankful for each and every day of it. I feel that inspiration and drive is soon to be before me and before you. I encourage you to hold steady and even when things feel dead trust in the lord’s plans for you. Inspiration comes when we need it most, straight from the lord’s lips directed to lift our spirit. Think back and remember moments of your life where you took inspiration and brought your dream to life.
thank you for reading and I hope and pray that this is an
encouragement to you.
