I know how to make the sadness go away...

Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

Today I’m going to share with you an introduction to a book called Wide Awake by Erwin McManus. This introduction says everything about what we yearn to be, to do, and it introduces the book well. Again maybe I’m being lazy by sharing someone else’s work but this is some good stuff to read. Enjoy.

“From M. Night Shyamalan’s film Unbreakable
David. (to Elijah) This morning was the first morning I can remember, that I didn’t open my eyes and feel that sadness…I thought the person who wrote that note had an answer for me.
Elijah. (to David) That little bit of sadness in the mornings you spoke of? I think I know what that is. Perhaps you ’re not doing what you’re suppose to be doing.

Unbreakable is a fictional story about a seemingly ordinary person who discovers he is nothing less than a superhero. This clever film is wrapped around the premise that graphic novels - comic books - are based on the exploits of individuals who live and work among us. It has been years since I saw this film, yet these lines have remained with me. They resonated far more deeply than I care to admit.

For years, I woke each day with a sadness I couldn’t shake, and then more sadness met me the moment I crawled out of bed. Thankfully, it is not so today. My best dreams are no longer wasted on my sleep. I find myself closing my eyes each night, eagerly waiting for tomorrow to come. There is nothing like feeling fully alive and dreaming wide awake. I am living a life beyond my wildest dreams - and I had some wild dreams.

Yet every day, I meet people who appear happy and are by every perceivable measure successful - but in the mornings, just before they face the world, they are greeted by that little bit of sadness. Los Angeles, my home, is filled with stark reminders that even for the most talented and ambitious, fulfillment can be elusive if not impossible to find. It is here, where Marilyn Monroe and James Dean serve as our icons, that we find the boulevard of broken dreams.

Many of us struggle to find a dream that doesn’t turn out to be a nightmare. Or we find ourselves shipwrecked when our dreams come true, but they were nothing like what we thought. We were sure this was the life we always wanted - the life we would kill for. Instead, it almost kills us.

For fifteen years, I have served as the spiritual and life mentor for our community of faith known as Mosaic. Thousands of deeply sincere, passionate, talented, bright, and immensely gifted people journey with us in pursuing the life God has created us to live. They are people with great dreams and the courage to back them up. But the process of finding the right dream and then moving it into life sometimes keeps them from making their dreams a reality. With an average age of twenty-five, our community is 90 percent energy and 10 percent experience. These are the cream of the crop, and sharing life together has reinforced the need for Wide Awake - because even the best of us can find turning our dreams into reality elusive and even overwhelming.

For a long time I have felt the weight of calling people to pursue their dreams, to take great risks, and to live a life beyond their imagination. But the devil, of course, is in the details - or in this case, in the process. Many people have told me they are now in hot pursuit of dreams long forgotten, but just as many ask me to please explain how exactly they can make their dreams a reality.

There are too many amazing people with unfilled lives and unfulfilled dreams. It’s as if I keep meeting M. Night’s David, who has yet to discover he is more than he knows. I many not know you personally, but this I know about you without question - there is a hero within you waiting to be awakened.”

How many days do you awake to the “sadness” Erwin McManus was talking about? I understand b/c only just recently did I awaken each day to greet the sadness and go about my day as if that sadness was just a part of life and I had to deal with it any way I could. I finally had to realize that God was in control of everything and I needed to give Him control of everything in my life. When I decided to stop controlling my own life and allow God to do it, the sadness finally disappeared. Each day is now met with all kinds of possibilities. And I still have days when it isn’t the greatest joy to get up but I still know Who is in control of it all and it is NOT me any longer. God can and will take care of everything in your life if only you would get out of His way and let Him do what He knows is best for you. Once you surrender everything to God in Faith knowing He will take care of it all, the weight of the world will come crumbling off your shoulders and you will see a physical, psychological, and emotional difference throughout your whole being.