Tip of My Iceberg

Moments before this calm picture of three youngsters watching a show, they were running around the house, yelling, laughing, chasing each other to the delight of others present. It was as if they reached a point of exhaustion at the same moment, and together they flopped on the floor.

Bluey was calling.

We all need a pause now and again, a chance to take a breath and reevaluate what we’re doing or what’s important. The kids were more self-aware than many adults–they knew their limits, and they felt no need to push past them. They understood when they needed rest. They recognized when they couldn’t do something more.

I wish I had that sense of self that allows me to listen to my body when it’s tired. There are times when my brain is telling me enough is enough, but like many people, I push through to accomplish more, to achieve greater things.

Until my body lets me know it’s quitting. My body is smarter than I am many times, letting me know the extent of my physical limits when I try to cram more into a day, when I attempt to do more than I need to. Exhaustion overwhelms or I feel sluggish or achey.

We weren’t created to be unlimited.

In the movie, “Wicked”, two unlikely friends come together to navigate a changing culture of politics, prejudice, and beliefs. Elphaba and Glinda are opposites; their friendship, though unexpected, shows how different forces working together can make a difference. Elphaba realizes that no matter what she does, she’ll never be accepted because she’s unlike everyone else.

The song, “Defying Gravity” speaks to the dilemma of longing for greater impact when working with someone you trust. But in this world there won’t ever be unlimited opportunities or resources no matter what we do.

“Unlimited, together we’re unlimited, together we’ll be the greatest team there’s ever been. Glinda, dreams the way we planned ’em, if we work in tandem, there’s no fight we cannot win.” During this song, it became evident that Elphaba and Glinda weren’t going to be allowed to combine their resources.

We’re all looking for our “enough” today, whether it’s fame, fortune, happiness, fulfillment, or purpose. We want enough of what we consider important to satisfy what we believe we long for.

The followers of Jesus in months and years following His resurrection were incredibly persecuted. Emperor Nero took great pleasure in using Christians to entertain him and his guests. He’d throw them to wild animals in the grand amphitheater in Rome and burned them alive as human torches to light the pathways around his palace. He also ordered Christians to be crucified so they could emulate their Savior. The apostle Paul who lived during this time was imprisoned many times, flogged, thrown off a cliff, shipwrecked, and beaten. But his attitude was quite different from others.

“Actually, I don’t have a sense of needing anything personally. I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.” Philippians 4:18-19.

I’m not unlimited, but I have more than enough in Jesus. He offers me contentment no matter what my circumstances because He’s with me in all situations. It’s not what I have that matters.

It’s who I have.

Unlimited? Jesus and me, together the greatest team that could be.