Choosing to SEE - Mary Beth Chapman [87]
Today was no different. I just wanted to get it done to get on to the next thing. I was laboring away, walking, looking no further than my feet. I’m a “get it done” kind of gal. While I was walking, head down, zoned in to the three feet or less in front of me, I was certain I heard that still small voice of God whispering ever so loudly to my soul . . . Look up! Chin up!
Until then, it had been a cloudy, overcast, rainy kind of morning, the sun hidden behind gray clouds.
To my amazement, as I looked up and lifted my chin, I hadn’t even noticed that the sun had come out. It had pushed its way through those dreary clouds and was there, bright as could be. The warmth on my face was solid proof that those clouds were gone!
I so desperately long to heal from so much pain . . . missing my sweet Maria. Trying to find the meaning and purpose for how I will live from here on out. But here is what was spoken to my soul this morning:
• If we keep our heads down, either out of defeat or loss or shame or tiredness . . . whatever the reason, we are going to miss the beautiful sun (and Son) that is right there in front of us, shining its warmth on our faces and our souls!
• We need to understand down to the depths of our souls that whether He is quietly behind a storm cloud or blazing obviously in the bright blue sky right in our faces, Jesus, the Son, is always – not sometimes – present. No matter what the circumstance.
• As we walk with chins up, faces directed toward the Son, we won’t see or have to deal with the pettiness of life, represented by the hundreds of seashells I was so fixated on. As we focus on Him, the things of life can be stepped over like those shells. (I know, easier said than done. Trust me, I’m trying to preach to the choir here . . . ME!) Is it possible that some of those seashells of life will just go away? I think so!
• As we keep our faces turned toward Him, maybe we won’t see life as a walk we feel we just have to get through and cross off our lists of things to get done . . . laboring and counting steps as we go because we just want it to be over. Maybe we can actually start to allow God to direct our lives in the direction that He wants us to go.
• He is going to tell us where to step and when to look down if our faces are on Him. As I was walking and looking up, allowing my face to feel His warm presence, I felt like I was supposed to look down and open my eyes. When I did, I was getting ready to step right on a baby hammerhead shark! It was deceased, but none the less . . . a shark!
• God allows the sharks of life like the hard places of suffering and difficulties. We all have them! But if our faces are turned toward Him, He will tell us when to look and how to survive those times by completely trusting Him. He navigates the steps and takes us where He wants us to go because He loves us and wants us to become more like Him. It is not up to us!
• Today, had that shark been alive, I would have totally freaked . . . heebie-jeebies to the max . . . I could not have handled it! I feel confident that God allowed it to be deceased so that I could at least write this. And besides, I carried it all the way back to the condo where we were staying and became quite the hero to my kids, young and old!
I hope that in some way this has touched or helped you. I hope that my journey will be one that will encourage you to walk . . . chin up!
35
Ready or Not
Man of Sorrows! What a name
For the Son of God, who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Philip Bliss,
“Hallelujah! What a Savior!”
Shattered dreams are never random. They are always a piece in a larger puzzle, a chapter in a larger story. The Holy Spirit uses the pain of shattered dreams to help us discover our desire for God, to help us begin dreaming the highest dream. They are ordained opportunities for the Spirit to awaken, then to satisfy our highest dream.
Larry Crabb
Now it is required that those who