Humility is a Thing of Beauty

Waterfall

I think we found the perfect way to spend Black Friday. (By the way what an appropriate name, you know the day after we gather with friends and family, thanking God for all He’s blessed us with, let’s go out and fight with others to make sure I get mine.) We spent part of the day in the Pisgah National Forest witnessing some of God’s amazing handiwork. The waterfalls were so beautiful and were a reminder of how the Lord wants to pour Himself out for us. Let it rain Father.

Layers

More from yesterday: The Grand Canyon is so much more than the most amazing natural beauty you can possibly see. It’s also a view like no other into the process God used to form the earth, each step formed upon the other until its perfect completion, not unlike ourselves. He’s in the process of perfecting each of us step by step and layer upon layer. No two identical each with our rough edges to be worn, cut or sanded down in His timing.

 

Beautiful Storm

We saw the most amazing storm over the Arizona desert today. The rain reached the ground as the stem from a giant black mushroom above. The lightning was so intense and seemed to come from every inch of the enormous cloud. It was so beautiful. It occurred to me that the reason we were able to see the loveliness in this incredible storm was because we weren’t in it, it was off in the distance.

We experience something quite similar with the storms we face in our lives. When we’re in them they can be terrifying, tumultuous or at best uncomfortable but once they’ve passed we see their beauty. Often they’ve washed away dust or cobwebs that may have settled where they shouldn’t and the fresh rain allows something long dormant to spring to life once again. If we remember the beauty of our past storms it will make it easier to trust God when we’re in the middle of the next.

Choosing

Today most of us have the opportunity to choose our attitude. Will today be crappy or will we find the good amidst the rubbish? There’s never a shortage of things to complain about and sometimes we have to look really hard to find the beauty. But it’s there and well worth finding.

Yes, you’re better

This one touches on the same topic as yesterday, comparison. Maybe at times we use comparison as an excuse to keep our distance from God but as we said before this isn’t coming from Him. He wants us to be different. He wants us to celebrate our uniqueness. Unfortunately we fall into the trap of comparing ourselves to others as a means of finding our worth. We look for the flaws in those around us in order to make ourselves feel better about our own. The good news is that’s not how God looks at us at all. He sees all of the good in us and isn’t afraid of the things that aren’t there yet. He thinks the very best of us at all times without comparison. So instead of saying Yes, you’re better. He saying, ” You’re so special, just the way I made you, you’re completely one of a kind and I couldn’t love you more. Find your worth in Me and stop looking for it elsewhere.”

Black or White

The world is not monochromatic. Seldom in life are the choices we’re confronted with so cut and dried or so easily identified. The good news for us is that ours is the God that places power in weakness, wisdom in simplicity and glory in humility. He is the God who overcomes death with life. With Him there is always more than meets the eye. When we choose to see things as either black or white we miss out on the reds, blues, greens, oranges and all the other colors He’s given us. As we learn to see through His eyes, there is beauty all around.

Spring

Scripture says, “For as the earth brings forth its bud, As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, So the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.” It’s so wonderful to see everything springing back to life this time of year. And like the freshness of spring we each have an opportunity to start new, to be what is bright and different in this world. We don’t have to settle for the way it’s been. It’s a new day.

I Got This

I got this is a pretty silly thing to say to the God of the universe. When someone far more qualified than ourselves offers to help, isn’t the smart thing to say, “absolutely”? Yet far too much of our life is kept from God. We each have weaknesses, flaws and wounds that we don’t trust Him to handle. We try to hide them from others, pretend they aren’t there and deal with them only when they become obvious. If we will trust Him, He’ll make our weakness strength, our flaws beautiful and use our wounds to help others heal.

More of His Image

“…The Lord our God is One”. There is no one like God, He is completely unique and like Him we are too. There is no one like you. You were created to reflect God in a way that can’t be fulfilled by anyone else. The coolest thing about your uniqueness is that it assures you of a one of a kind relationship with God. That’s why it’s so important for you to share yourself, your gifts, your talents and your insights.