I took my middle son to Magic Kingdom last week for his birthday. And we had an absolute blast!
However, at one point, I did throw up in my mouth several times in a row.
Nope, not on Space Mountain.
No. Not in the Mad Hatter Spinning Teacup either. (And I’m pretty sure we were spinning the fastest.)
Not even on It’s a Small World. But that’s because we didn’t ride that “thrill ride.”
It wasn’t even on a thrill ride. It was during the closing fireworks display.
Nothing wrong with the fireworks themselves, but there was something nauseating about the message being conveyed by the soundtrack of Disney songs and characters throughout the show.
If I had to hear one more time that “If I just wished hard enough my dreams would come true” I was going to wish for that magical mouse to appear right in front of me. So I could punch his nose and pull off his ears.
Does it sound like someone’s a little bitter?
Not at all.
I wasn’t thinking about myself. I was thinking about the millions of youth, students and singles out there wishing upon a star for “that special someone.”
And wishing.
And wishing.
And wishing.
Why we Believe in just Wishing
I asked my soon-to-be-12-year-old why he thought Disney would be preaching such a silly message. (And, yes, it did feel a lot like proselytizing.)
His answer: because half the people there believe it.
Sounds about right to me, so I asked him why he thought so many people believe that just wishing things would make them happen.
I thought he had another great answer: because they simply want it to be true.
I see that a lot. People who desire for a love story that would make Belle look like the beast, make Cinderella’s slippers look like they were made from recycled plastic and make Sleeping Beauty wish she never been awoken.
No one says that in so many words, but you can feel this aching need to belong to someone, to find a love that heals every wound, to experience an epic romance that takes your breath away every single day of the year. (OK, maybe not that, because then you’d suffocate and die.)
Maybe I can feel it, because I still remember feeling that kind of longing myself; to slay the two-headed dragon, and win the hand of the most lovely maiden in the land. It wasn’t just a fantastic fantasy. It was a story that I wrote, so I could make sure the ending turned out the way I wanted, so I would turn out to be the ladies-man-and-hero-in-one I always wanted to be.
Are you anything like me?
It’s human nature to want to be in control; to believe we can make it happen if we wish (or work, or pray or wait) long enough and hard enough. We want to write our own story.
And if we need any help, we can write that into the script. Who needs God if we have magical first stars or three-wish genies? Or maybe God’s the genie, who we keep in our magic lamp until He gives us what we want.
But there’s a second reason why I think so many people believe this wish-upon-a-star narrative. Every single day you can read another story about someone else who did, in fact, have their dreams come true.
Walt Disney isn’t the only one. Every day another ordinary bloke like you and me makes it big, or wins the prize, or gets the girl (or guy). Apparently people have been virtually sailing through life without God since David was writing the Psalms.
And so we keep on wishing.
Some of us are even working hard to earn our way to our dreams. (Heck, Rome wasn’t built in a day. And neither was Disney World.)
But as another Valentines Day approaches, with possibly no prince or princess on the horizon, I want to challenge you: wishing and working and waiting isn’t what God has commanded us to do.
Certainly, dreams are part of being human; the result of being made in the image of a Creator who dreamed and then spoke into existence the entire universe. However…
For most of us, our dreams grow into idols faster than you can say bippity boppity boo.
They become all about me:
- Who I want to be
- What I want to do
- Where I want to live
- What I want to have
- What impact I want to leave
So what do you do with your dreams?
You surrender them to the God who’s got bigger and wilder dreams in his little pinky toe than we have in the collective consciousness of the seven billion dreamers alive today on this little blue ball called Spaceship Earth.
But then we ask God for something, in place of those dreams.
Do you know what that is?
We’ll share that next week, before the clock strikes Valentine’s Day. However, it’s likely, if you prayerfully determine to submit your dreams of love and honor and courage and beauty to God, He’ll surprise you with the answer Himself.
He’s like that. Not even Walt Disney could dream as big as Him. No. Not you either.
Speaking of surrendering, I gave up my “real job” to work toward a world where everyone is empowered to prepare for their future marriage like a successful career: intentionally, intelligently and IN ADVANCE! Consider a tax-deductible donation to Future Marriage University!
DNA: It’s What’s For Dating
Dug this weekend’s DNA? Be a good friend and share with your friends on the social media platform of choice: Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, or Twitter.
The LoveEd discipleship series, Beyond Sex & Salvation, will empower you to prepare for relational success when it counts: BEFORE you fall in love!
It’s NOT for couples, but for any wise individual who thinks they might want to get married sometime before they die. And would like to learn how to better build healthy relationships in the meantime.
Check out all three study guides in our store. You can walk through them on your own, but it’s more fun with friends (that and it kinda makes sense to grow in relational success in actual relationships with others), so consider putting together an FMU LoveEd small group study.
Even better? And ask a rock star married couple you respect to lead it!