It’s Got To Be…

Blog by Kristen Hicks

 

Do you ever have a movie quote that comes to your mind at the most random moments? No? Just me? Ok, that’s ok. Sometimes, when I sit quietly and think about what is really going on in my heart, what I would really like to talk about, what I really want to say, this is the quote that immediately comes to mind… “It’s got to be that can’t-eat, can’t-sleep, reach-for-the-stars, over-the-fence, World Series kind of stuff, right?”

Can you guess the movie?

Most of you probably guessed it. The one, the only… “It Takes Two”. I’m sitting here and really wondering why in the heck this is the movie quote I most often think about.

At one point in middle school (now sadly much earlier, I’m afraid), in the realm of braces, glasses, zits, and extremely awkward phases, this-this is the time where most of us were introduced to “dating.” Well, wait, maybe that isn’t the best word— we used phrases like “going out with,” or “boyfriend, girlfriend.” Not really the point, but you get the idea. Now, why we choose this time in our life, the most embarrassing, annoying, uncomfortable time in our life, to start this venture, is beyond me. I remember at one point during this phase, someone at church taught me about standards. She made all the girls in my class, sit down and make a list of everything we wanted in a guy. Most of us of course, based our list entirely on the guy we were crushing on that day. Even still, though, doing this made an impression on me. 

I remember when I got to college, the Lord encouraged me to make a new list, this time, with Him. There was no guy, in particular, I had a crush on at that time, so that really helped my filter, but what I wasn’t expecting was for this list to continue to grow for the next couple of years. This became my standard. It wasn’t impossible things either. It was more like, relational values, the way we’d interact, those kinds of things.  

I know what you are thinking. You are thinking that I’m about to finish this blog with some amazing story of how I stuck to my standards and the Lord gave me what I desired. Or you could even go the other way and think it’s about how I didn’t stick to my standard but the Lord healed me and then I found “the one” and it was better than I could have ever imagined. All because of the standard.

Uhhh… no… heck no.

I don’t think that has anything to do with why I keep thinking about that movie quote. This is where I’m at. Every single time I think about that movie quote, I think about Jesus. Some of you might be thinking, I am WAY over spiritualizing this. Oh, well, just hear me out. With a standard, there is an expectation. I want to be in love with Jesus like this. In the completely irrational, unconventional, head-over-heels, go big or go home kind of way. Not being able to eat without thanking Him and being reminded of Him (Can’t-eat). Can’t sleep until I tell Him all about my day until I hear His voice (Can’t-sleep). Reaching for the Light, allowing it to take over every dark space within me— allowing it to light the path to His heart and His will (Reach-for-the-stars). Believing for Him to do immeasurably more than I ask for or imagine (Over-the-fence). And allow Him to lead me to and teach me about His Kingdom (World Series)… that kinda stuff, right? 

The thing is… it’s got to be this. This is the standard. This is the expectation He wants us to believe Him for. Yet, still, we settle. He promises so much more, but most definitely not less.