With things being uncertain due to recent events, I have been thinking and praying especially for my loved ones and friends. I am so grateful that everyone I know is well, and safe, and I was thinking how much we are simply at the mercy of God. But the moment the thought appeared, it kind of opened up and let more light in. I suddenly realized that to say that we are at the mercy of God, is not to say that our prospects are bleak. Our God is a God abundant in goodness, love, and mercy; and he is more ready to give than we are to receive. So being a child of the father, and to say that we are at his mercy, is to simply to say that we are in the best and safest place in the world. Isn’t that a lovely thought? I just love it when it feels like the heavens open up, and a ray of light illuminates my otherwise dull, mundane way of seeing things. It reminds me that there are shining realities out there that somehow, are actually more true to life than our modern ways of looking at things. And that sometimes our smallish ideas about life are not actually illuminated by God and his plan for life.

I was talking with my daughter about what a gift Christianity is, and how much it helps us make sense of the mess and broken world we often find ourselves in. Because Christianity is a revelation, a divine map for life on this earth. By its shining lights we are given the keys to life, and a way to navigate through the uncertain and sometimes stormy seas. We are told how to live and overcome our daily challenges, but the way isn’t always entirely clear at first, and the instruction sometimes seems so basic and “simple.” We often don’t fully understand ideas like love, or forgiveness, or hope – at first sight. These things can appear as seemingly simple to us at first, and we can’t see yet that they are the very pillars of the universe. Sometimes Christian principles and ideas “sound nice,” but they also seem a little like a fairy tale – it seems so far away from the reality of our day to day lives. It is so easy to grow materialistic in our outlook, and to begin to see things through the filters that get handed down to us. Our nose seems to be set to the grindstone, and our reality really begins to feel the way we hear it portrayed everywhere around us – “This sucks.” Or “Why me? What did I do to deserve this?” But Christianity blows a fresher wind into our world, if we will open our hearts and look for the light, and for better answers. But the Spirit of Christ always brings hope, always reminds us that there is a reason and meaning to this life we have been given, and that the end is going to be good. These good winds remind us of the paradoxes of life: that life is good, and also challenging. And that perspective helps us to expand our line of vision beyond the present difficulty. The Christian spirit reminds us to lift our eyes up to the hills, and out of the darkness, or the pit we may feel ourselves in; it reminds us that our help comes from the Lord. Who made heaven and earth… Somehow there is always a sense of something great, wide, eternal, and limitless in the spirit of the Lord. And somehow this serves to remind us that this is not the end,  and that reality, God, life, and we also are bigger than the situations we find ourselves in. It enables us to stretch our arms outwards and to touch the ends of the universe. It reminds us that there is more than just the physical world, and to fight to remember that the spiritual world is a key player in this game as well – as much as the physical, which is sometimes hard to imagine or believe. And if we can be humble enough to bear the reminder, being helped through our obedience and faithfulness to the things we know and have been taught, then we can begin to see the bigger picture. Then we are able to be blessed with “seeing” these things in a better light, and a fuller, more real or “true to the way life actually is” way than we had before.

But the good winds of the Spirit are ever blowing, and our Father is always helping us. He is always guiding us, always there to show us the way out of the mud, and back up into his heavenly air when we get lost and lose our heavenly vision. And he is more ready to help, than we are to ask. He says, I will be with you through the storm. The rivers shall not overflow you. When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon you. And he says, Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.So many promises – Not only to be with us, but also of protection and help. And not only that, but also of fulfillment, peace, and joy for our soul. Such beautiful and shining promises!

– Help us, Heavenly Father; we need you so much. Thank you for how true, and faithful and good you always are. You are only waiting for us to be ready to walk with you, and you have promised to take us all the way. Help us to remember who you are, and to remember to look to you, so that you can refresh our vision, and remind us to see things from your Heavenly perspective. For we are your children, and we know – beautifully, amazingly, and heart-breakingly how much you love us. Help us to remember and hold onto that, and to love you; to be constant with you as you are with us. Help us not to let the waves and the current affairs, and the fears of the times we live in draw our eyes off of you, or wash us off of the rock; you are our rock and the stabilizing element in our lives. Help us to stay with you, and to look to you for your plans for our life. You will always help us to bear and overcome the challenges that come our way; even if it be through the difficulty and the pain, you will always bring us to joy in the end. We know that you have beautiful things in store for those who love you. You are the sunshine of our life, and our life and our hope is in you. Amen.

~Beth 🌸

Listen to the winds blow! Silently singing hope into our hearts, and gently bringing a quiet joy into our souls. How is it that some things work invisibly like that? It is all amazing to me, but somehow I know it is very good. And somehow I feel like that is the first step; isn’t it, Bear? To know deep inside the things that are good? 🐾

Uncategorized