So I’ve been watching this show on Netflix and have low-key gotten addicted to it. 🙈 It’s called White Collar and it’s pretty amazing! Basically, a con artist, by the name of Neil, finally gets caught in the act and thrown in jail. While in jail, the FBI (White Collar division) decides to offer him a deal… Neil’s expertise for a “get out of jail free” card by becoming a “Confidential Informant”. 😏 Long story short, the show’s focus is on solving the different cases that come up which include a lot of undercover work and it concurrently always has the FBI watching over their shoulder to make sure Neil won’t betray their trust. 👀
In a particular episode the other day, Neil and his handler, Peter, are undercover attempting to rob the federal reserve with a group of skilled con-artists/robbers… Together, they schemed up a plan and found a way to manipulate aircrafts into basically bringing the money right into their hands… 💸👐🏾 At the end of that episode they were gearing up for the mission and, of course, it left quite a cliff hanger on what would happen next.
So I called it a night and went to sleep knowing that the next day, I’d find out what would happen later...
Now, you KNOW you watch too much of a show when you wake up from a dream about you being in it! LOL. 🙈
But that’s exactly what happened to me… lol. I dreamed that I was a part of the team of robbers and was helping with this money heist. Only, in my dream, we ran into a problem that we weren’t expecting! The plan was to steal the money, load it into containers, separate it by pack and distribute it evenly to each member. We had expected the money to be unmarked and set in packs already. However, when we opened these packs to check, it was all kinds of bills put together! It wasn’t even all American money! There were bills from foreign countries that needed to be converted! 💵💴💰💶💷
It resulted in us all getting caught and going to jail. When I woke up from this dream, all I sensed were these words…
NO SHORTCUTS!
Con-Artists/Robbers have one goal… find the shortest way to get the goods without getting caught. Basically, you get the money, then live happily ever after in some country far away on a beach drinking Mojitos for the rest of your life. 🍹🏝
Unfortunately, that’s not how it always works.
SIDE NOTE: Might i just point out that in White Collar, all of the men that were invited to be a part of the robbing team were smart and exceptionally great at a specific skill. They were hand-picked, auditioned and chosen for this task. So in reality, the money (or success) that they sought could be worked for and acquired in less time than the average person as it is. (That’ll preach. lol)
But anyways, for some reason, we always want to take the “easy way” to "the good part". Well, my friends, I’ve been tasked to remind us that there is no short cut.
I’m not sure what that means to you personally, but the first thing this episode reminded me about is: seasons.
We always desire to get to the end of the story before it even begins good. We often get frustrated with having to serve our time because we so desperately just want to skip to "the good part". Don't worry, love. All of it is good. It's always working for your good... if you love God and are called by Him, that is. (Romans 8:28)
We already know that the Lord has His perfect plan for our lives (Jeremiah 29:11). What we don’t know is what roads and curves, mountains and hills it will direct us down, up and across…
I don’t really feel the need to beat this subject over the head. I feel like I've mentioned God’s perfect planning before and just the fact that you gotta trust it. Why? Because He knows best! His ways are higher as well as His thoughts! (Isaiah 55:8) - Trust THAT and His sovereignty… and then rest in His timing. Don't get antsy (like me, sometimes)! 😬🙈
KNOW that (like these robbers in the show) He’s already equipped you with everything you need for the full journey He’s called you to! Therefore, skipping parts is simply unnecessary and often times very damaging because skipping vital steps results in prematurity.
Embrace the season, love! Enjoy the ride and do yourself a favor…
NO SHORTCUTS.