Who's Got Your Front?

I may have mentioned before that I enjoy listening to John Denver.  His songs show his relationship to nature and the things in his universe that bring him solace.  While I am unaware of his relationship with God, I do know that the lyrics he composed often allow me to reflect on Him and, as I am prone to do when I find something that applies mostly to me, I may often change a word or two to make it “mine.”  

Here’s an example from “Looking for Space” that I have changed:

And I'm looking for space
And to find out who I am
And I'm looking to know and understand
It's a sweet, sweet dream
Sometimes I'm almost there
Sometimes I fly like an eagle
And sometimes I'm deep in despair

In my version, the last line sings like this:  “Sometimes I fly like an eagle and sometimes I weep in despair.”  

Another of John’s classic songs I enjoy is “Sunshine on my Shoulders.”  On my shoulders, yes, the sun makes me happy.  But when it’s in my eyes?  When it’s shining on my face, blinding me, sometimes even burning me?  Then I tend to prefer it to stay behind me.  It can make me cry.

I pondered that as I took my morning stroll.  I could walk on and on and on if the sun was behind me.  Feeling its warmth--but not its heat!--I truly feel that my walks would last quite a bit longer.  However, in my ’hood, I tend to walk back and forth.  This means at one point I walk into the sun and when I get to my turnaround spot, then I walk to the other end of the road with my back towards it.  Knowing the sun is Christ, I contemplate on how well He takes care of me, how He’s there to pick me up when I stumble and/or fall.  I know His light allows me to stay upright and to bask in His glory.  It’s when I turn around though, and look straight into its face, into God’s face.  Like Moses, I cannot stand it!  It’s too much for me!  It burns my flesh.  It heats my body.  It blinds my eyes.  

I’m fair-skinned and blue-eyed.  Not a great combination for being in the great outdoors, huh?  That being said--and I’ll conclude with this--being in the direct sunshine is something I can only do in small doses.  I have the scars to prove it and my dermatologist will confirm that I have helped make the annual office budget stay in the black with my frequent visits.  But when I am on Jesus’ accounting books?  When the records reveal what the Son has in His plus column, His profit margins?  Sigh.  I shudder to think.

Jesus has my back.  He has my front as well but it’s awfully hard for me to walk in His light directly.  I fall short.  I cannot see all that He has prepared because my finite eyes just cannot take it in.  I cannot see His plans because they are not ready to be revealed just yet.  I sometimes take small steps where I can boldly step into the light and then...and then my eyes are filled with those annoying black dots that mar my vision because it’s just too much.  The passion of His call burns me as I contemplate if I can live up to it.  The shame of my failures heats my face to a red that is caused not by the sun’s rays but by the Son’s compassion.  But you see, even though I fall short and my race is not yet won?  Even though I can only get Jesus in small doses?  Even though His Word is a lamp unto my feet, it’s the darkness of life that I trod through and only He can brighten the way.  I get glimpses of His plan once in a while because that is all I am capable of handling.  He knows this.  He’s got me and is patient with my progress and yes, there are times when it all seems to be at a standstill.  Truthfully there are paths I have to go back down and re-walk because I bit off more than I could chew.  But through it all, God stays constant.  He’s my Sunshine.  He’s my Map.  He’s got my front.

Let’s pray!

Dear Lord, my analogies aren’t always succinct to those who may read my blog but hopefully through some of this mess, the message of You will shine forth.  

Lord?  Thank You for opportunities to learn more about You and to grow in Your truths.  There is so much of You to learn and I am so thankful that I will have eternity to learn the things that my tiny little brain just can’t handle right now.  

Thanks for having my front, God.  May I walk in You--even when it’s just baby steps--is my plan.  I purpose this in the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen!

Sunshine In My Eyes Can Make Me Cry or The Power Of The Pause

I won’t say that he said it best, but John Denver sure did peg it when he sang of the sunshine on his shoulder making him happy and the sunshine in his eyes making him cry.  The sunshine on the water that looked so lovely and the sunshine almost all the time making him high?  I get it.

The other morning on the drive up to Boone, I got to witness this.  I wish my camera did it better justice but the beauty was there and this small reminder of it through this picture serves to lead into today’s (well, actually last night’s) study on the grandeur of God.

Steve and I were finishing up our study as we usually do by reading our responses to the passage we had read.  Usually he shares first but mine was so good (yes, I am patting myself on the back because...well, keep reading and you’ll see!) that I had to verbally express what my words were not containing before even asking him if he was ready to expound.  Without any further ado, here’s what I wrote:

Job 26 Job’s Frailty and God’s Majesty

“I am weak but Thou art strong.” Job knew his own mortality: not about the obvious truth that he wouldn’t live forever. I’m not writing about that.  What I mean is that Job knew he was a worm. In the grand scheme of life, he was nothing.  But God?  Oh indeed but God!

Job shares his awe of him to Bildad.  He tells of the dead and how they’re finally realizing just Whom they shall face when eternity begins.  The Great God Who created the heavens and the earth, yes, but oh the vastness that has yet to be mined by our finite minds!  I mean seriously, who but God could think of such details that make all things work together?  The clouds, the phases of the moon, the sun, and other weather events.  I cannot even begin to fathom them!

“These are the mere edges of His ways” verse 14 says, “And how small a whisper we hear of Him!”  

Just this morning I glimpsed a tiny bit of splendor as the light reflecting on the living room wall whispered to me that something spectacular was taking place outside.  I quickly grabbed my camera and, sure enough, there it was.  Magnificent clouds reflecting the brightness of the awakening sun.  It was beautiful.

But it didn’t last.  In dismay I saw the world creeping in, stealing this momentary partial view of God’s heaven.  Just a whisper, a preview of upcoming attractions, a hint of what is to come.  

“His power, who can understand?” asked Job.  

Not this ol’ gal.  But what it means to me?  It means “Open your eyes, dear girl. Open your mind and learn of Me.  I give you these appetizers so that you will hunger for more of Me.  Now My child, what will you do about it?”

Ahh, how beautiful the sunrises and the sunsets the Lord God Almighty makes available to me, friends.  However, He doesn’t push them down my throat nor sound the bell each day to notify me that they’re here.  Nope.  Instead--as He does with just about all of His wonders--He puts them out there to be noticed by those who are looking for them.  Some are physical, tangible, earthy treasures we can witness with our own eyes.  Others involve His human characteristics that are more noticeable in His children--if we’ll only take our eyes off of self and direct them their way.  

The ways God reveals Himself to us through nature and through mankind are unending and the rewards are ours, dear ones, if we’ll just take a moment to stop and smell the roses, observe the times and seasons, and as little children often say when something outstanding captures their attention, “Look!”  Look with the eyes of a child at the wonders around you but then, look with the eyes of one who already knows but has somehow neglected to practice what s/he has been taught.  Put away the former things and let God make all things new to you once again.  Amen?

Let’s pray!

Dear God, as another day has dawned, may the dawning of understanding be upon us all as we seek You first and just pause to take a moment to consider Your handiwork.  I often joke to Steve that he doesn’t know the power of the pause when he too often interrupts me as I use that moment to further consider what I am about to say.  May the power of the pause be instilled in our lives today, Father, as we enjoy and savor the desires of our souls being fulfilled through Your creation and through Your people.  I ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.  Teach us to keep the interruptions at bay and just be still for a moment or two is my humble prayer.

The God on the Mountain

Dave Loggins has been begging me for years to do it. Before him, there was John Denver singing of his beloved Rocky Mountains. Add Trisha Yearwood singing about the song remembering when as she and an old love rolled through them. Lastly, Tim McGraw talked about things on his dad's bucket list that included climbing here. So you see, I really had no choice but to come to Denver, Colorado, see the snowfall, climb those Rockies (ahem, well at least walk on them wink emoticon ), and definitely roll through them with my own love.

Ahh, the mountains! Whether they are the gorgeous ones I just got to experience these last few days or my beloved Blue Ridge Mountains back in North Carolina, there is just something so special about being up high, further away from the crowds, and oh so much closer to God. Jesus Himself took pleasure and found relief in going to the mountain. He told us all about how He'd go there and pray, away from the others, so He could be alone with His Father. He needed to do this. So did I.

Isn't amazing what perspective can do for one? I remember years ago when I was a kid, watching an episode of "Little House on the Prairie." Half Pint had gotten into one of her messes and she recalled her preacher saying something to the effect of "The closer you are to God, the more likely He is to listen to you." Taking it out of context, she ran away to the mountains, thinking if she was up higher to heaven that her prayers would be heard and thus answered differently than if she stayed in her valley. Of course, it all worked out for her, as she soon realized (after all, it was only a sixty minute show wink emoticon ) that it wasn't as much about physical proximity to Christ as it was spiritual closeness to the One Who can answer our tiniest to the most important of our prayers.

As Steve and I make our way back East and get to go through The Great Smoky Mountains, I am sure I will once again be reminded of the power of God to create such beauty for my wandering eyes to behold, surely, but also to reflect on just how amazing He is to make such a creation for the likes of me. In addition, I will be continually humbled that while such wonders exist, the most wondrous of all is that He would allow a wretch such as myself to commune with Him wherever I may be. I don't have to be elevated physically to get to talk to Him: I just have to be mentally alert enough to realize no matter where I am in body, it's my spirit, my soul, that needs to be in tune with His song.

"Go rest high on that mountain," sang Vince Gill. I did. But my work is not yet done. So, until my final hurrah, I will thank God daily for His blessings, His love, His marvelous creations, and continue seeking Him wherever I may wander.