What We Hope For

I remember waiting up till it got dark, Searching till I found the brightest star,
Making my wish with all my heart, But we grow up and so do all our dreams,
Somehow without us even noticing, We set our sights on lesser things,
Oh, to go back when we still believed

We start out so innocent and wise, Before we cut the world down to our size,
We still have that wonder in our eyes, So maybe that's why Jesus said to come,
With the faith we had when we were young, Trusting in a world beyond this one,
Letting our imaginations run

What we hope for Is not too much to ask for, And what we pray for Isn't nearly big enough,
'Cause what we dream of, Cannot compare to God's love,
And what He wants for, us is so much more, More than what we hope for.

I hope you like these lyrics from Carolyn Arends as much as I do.  They remind me how I (on a daily basis) limit God's ability to make my life and my day better.  In John 11 Mary and Martha are mourning the death of Lazarus.  Mary tells Jesus "If only you had been here my brother would not have died."  It is a statement made by a hurting woman ... similar to one I have made often.  But she forgets, God (and thus Jesus) was there ... He knew of Lazarus death and even delayed His arrival.  Lazarus did die.  This story makes me think of something.  What if God is more glorified in our perseverance through difficulty and pain than preventing the pain in the first place?  What if the whole world is filled with opportunities to allow God to be expressed, glorified and shown for the amazing, big God He really is?