Walking in to work from the parking lot yesterday, my
attention was caught by three elementary boys huddled around a leaf seemingly
suspended in midair. An errant spider web attached to a dry, fall leaf dangled
right at their eye level. And such wonderment in their big brown eyes as they
looked to see this mystery. It was gone in a moment as they recognized the
source of the mystery and batted it down in a playful reaction. But I had
caught the brief wonderment in their eyes, the marveling at a mystery, the joy
of discovery.
I shared the story with my staff that morning and asked them, as they waded through their normal difficulties that day, to look for those moments of
marvel. Perhaps in the spontaneous interaction with an individual, a
compassionate gesture, a small token of appreciation. But to stop and
marvel....
I was surprised at
how a simple story made an impression as person after person stopped later that
day to relate their simple 'marveling of mysteries'. For me, it was a divinely
ordained, serendipitous moment as I have been wading through a wall of
discouragement, frustration, self-doubt and challenges to my faith. A
recognition that God is in control and that He is not absent...and how this
idea of God's Presence has been reinforced just today in all of my readings.
- “The God of Israel, the Savior, is sometimes a God who hides himself, but never a God who absents himself. Sometimes in the dark, but never at a distance." (Matthew Henry)
- If you’re sinking, it may be because you are looking at the waves of your health, finances, or relationships. Or maybe you’ve been listening to the howling wind of the culture, taking your cues from what others are saying and doing instead of keeping your mind stayed on Christ (Isaiah 26:3). But you don’t have to go under. Like Peter, if you get distracted and start to sink, it’s time to call out, “Lord, save me!”(James McDonald)
- And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” (Exodus 3:2-6)
So today, I am going to look for the mysteries around me, to
marvel at them, and perhaps there, I will see God, ‘sometimes in the dark, but never at a distance.”
