All that being said, I love to cruise through the cement halls of Costco seeking out the latest deals on ginormous packages of paper plates and flavored Perrier water. And honestly, the place may be mighty sterile, but the employees there are always incredibly nice and helpful (and, as I mentioned to the friendly checkout guy today--unbelievably fast!). Today, after zipping through the checkout line (like I said--fast), I pushed my cart past the little food court they have set up there. It's really something--lots of picnic tables, complete with umbrellas, and awfully clean with a number of folks eating their pizza or frozen yogurt sitting under the umbrellas.
But still... sitting under the umbrellas in the middle of the Costco... in the cavernous warehouse... with the cement floors... and the florescent lights overhead. No music. No chorus of birds. No sun. No breeze. No blue sky. Just Costco--and like I said, I really like Costco... a lot... but gee whiz, eating under an umbrella at a picnic table inside Costco?
I guess the contrast with the day outside was just so dramatic. I walked outside and gazed up at a sky that was such a spectacular shade of blue it hurt your heart. It was a cool spring day--truly, just the ideal temperature of slightly warm but still the hint of a chill and refreshing. And the birds, heaven help us, the birds were putting on a show! I've never heard such singing and trilling--it simply took my breath away. The air was so clear and clean after all the rain. As I filled my lungs, I simply couldn't do anything but thank the Lord for the gift of life and the privilege of witnessing His daily miraculous show of creation. All for free. No membership necessary. No fees. No requirements... save an observant eye and a thankful heart.
How often do we settle for the Costco picnics in our lives when God has a sumptious banquet of His free grace and joy and peace and power and glory ready and waiting and available for us? So much beauty and how often do we miss it? So much grace, so much love, so much peace, so much joy, but we choose instead to huddle in our little fears and shallow dreams of more stuff or more success or more money.
He has so so much more for us! Why would we settle for the Costco picnic when we can go outside and watch the waves of the ocean or frolic on the beach or hike up the mountains or sit in the sun and smell the new cut grass? Why would we settle for the temporary and empty applause of the world when we can have lasting and loving relationships and laughter with our precious family and friends and with the God of the Universe? Why would we think we need more achievements, more accumulation, more accolades that always always always disappoint when He longs to give us more depth of love, more joy and more true soul satisfaction in Him?
As I drove home, I suddenly saw the azaleas that marked my path nearly all the way back. It seemed every yard bloomed with the extravagant, showy blossoms in brilliant purple and pink and orange. How on earth had I missed them before? Too busy. Too preoccupied. Too self-concerned to see all that God had freely bestowed to give us pleasure and bring Him glory. Forgive me Lord. Forgive me for daily settling for so little when You yearn for us to enjoy so infinitely much more in You. Help me, help us, to leave behind the sterile indoor picnics of our lives and seek out the wild, adventurous life of complete trust and faith in You and in Your plans for us. To God, the generous, gracious Giver of all that we see and all that we cannot see, be all the glory.
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