Sunrise!
The view is spectacular, thirty-thousand feet above home.
The sun creates the illusion of pristine snowfields
Abruptly ending in a dark abyss below.
As we fly over the darkness, light begins to penetrate the sleepy towns and snaking rivers.
Grabbing my phone, I lean over The Preacher, who sits patiently, and begin snapping photos of this perfect moment. Sitting back I look at my results.
A blurry one, this one is ok, that one is fine, oh now here it is, the mood captured perfectly.
But there is one problem.
Look closely at the photo.
Many of you noticed it immediately.
The scene is lovely, even breathtaking, but instead of focusing on God’s spectacular sunrise in the photo, all I can see is the dirty window.
Water spots, smudges and grime.
Distracting me
Yanking my focus from the sublime
To the mundane.
The gift he offers me:
A chance to bask in his glory and revel in his beauty, to focus on the spiritual and reflect on thankfulness.
Yet I turn toward the dirt of our often grimy physical realm
Left by a careless human.
But isn’t that life? He displays his splendor for us every day. We don’t have to be jetting across the country to see it. But do we notice, or are we too busy focusing on the problems of the day?
The late fees
The funny noise the car is making
The projects due
The kids attitudes
Or even politics that concern
And wars that wage.
He tells us to take one day at a time so why do we refuse?
Why do we hang on with white knuckles to the worry-habit, choosing to carry the burdens ourself instead of placing them in his outstretched hand?
Is he disappointed when we blow down the road at breakneck speed and never notice the sunset he painted for us?
Or the ice crystals he drips meticulously from the bare branches,
Or the snow as it glistens like a million diamonds he scattered beneath our feet…
Before the physical turns it to a muddy mess like our lives.
Distracted yet again by the dirty window of our life,
Focused on the earthly. the fleeting and the momentary, we miss the joy and the peace of mind he has to offer our soul.
So why do we insist in focusing on the smudges and wallowing in the worry–
Instead of looking beyond to the tranquility he holds out to us?
All we have to do is reach out and take it.
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Phillipians 4:6-7 Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life. (MSG)
-What worries are bogging you down?
-Ask God to help you in the constant battle of focusing on one day at a time.