Today the air is beyond brisk--it's downright cold! But so refreshing. You just want to breathe down deep and full with that clear, pure air. Covering it all--a magnificent canopy of startling blue overhead. The bright sunshine seems almost brash after all the days of cloudy, overcast days. So thank You, Lord!
It's funny how easily we can be distracted from all the good God has graciously poured into our lives, because we're so preoccupied with the clouds He's also allowed. Just this morning, I walked past our front yard...also known as a breeding ground for every weed native to North America. Seriously, you cannot imagine the impressive--and horrible looking--variety of weeds in that one small space. What on earth? We just reseeded our yard, and the back yard looks amazing, but whew, not the front.
I complained to my husband that this was embarrassing and looked awful for our neighbors. His suggestion: "Let's put a sign out front and tell people to go look at our back yard instead." So helpful.
But here's the point: there's all this glory happening all about me--trees exploding in color, cool-make-you-feel-alive air to breathe, remarkably blue skies, sun-drenched brightness--and I'm focused upon a tiny little oval of weeds in front of my house. Are you kidding?!
O forgive me Father, because this so often reflects my prone-to-wander crummy complaining attitude! No, we are reminded over and over again to count our blessings, to rejoice in the Lord, to delight in Him and His blessings in our lives.
Why all the reminders? Because we forget! Because we tend to focus like lasers on the weeds in our lives rather fix our eyes upon the Giver and His gifts.
Jonathan Edwards once said, "God is glorified not only by His glory's being seen, but by its being rejoiced in." We have to first see it and then we have to rejoice in it--that means out loud. Consciously choosing to turn our gaze away from the crummy weeds in our lives and turning instead to focus upon the Creator and His glory and goodness in our lives. And then rejoicing with our lips and in our attitudes.
So thank You Lord for this day and for Your glory which pours forth upon this earth. You are a relentless gift-giver. Thank You for the priceless gift of the people You have placed in our lives. And thank You most of all for the Savior who came to redeem His children and give us hope of an eternal, glorious, perfect--and weed free--home. To God, and God alone, be the glory!
Oh, yes, we do forget. That verse, "prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love" always brings me to my knees. So true! We cannot escape our sin nature which tries to daily refocus us. But God is good and gives us trees robed in red to remind us in the fall. He gives us barrenness of branches in the winter to remind us of our hopelessness without Him, He gives us the beauty of blossoms in the spring reminding us of new life within, and the evergreen garments of His faithfulness in the summer. You have my creative juices flowing as well as a song on my lips:) Have a blessed day! Love, Rachael @ Inking the Heart
ReplyDelete