I'm having one of those days. You know, the sort of day you wish didn't bother showing up this morning. In fact, I've been having one of those weeks. Too much to do, too little time etc. - we've all had them.
But in the middle of my busyness, in the middle of my panic, in the middle of my must-rush-to-get-this-done-ness, God speaks.
I have just been finishing off a bit of work I needed to get sorted this evening and one of the font choices on the website I was using was called "Loved by the King."
That was it. Right there. God speaking into my situation.
I wasn't looking for Him, I wasn't thinking about Him, I wasn't particularly fussed about Him if I'm honest. But that doesn't stop God looking for me and it doesn't stop Him thinking about me.
We are always on His mind. Not in a creepy, omniscient Big-Brother kind of way, in a can't-get-you-out-of-my-thoughts kind of way.
God says, in Isaiah -
"Can a mother forget the infant at her breast,
walk away from the baby she bore?
But even if mothers forget,
I'd never forget you - never.
Look, I've written your names on the backs of my hands.
The walls you're rebuilding are never out of my sight."
[Isaiah 49:15-16 MSG]
Even if He tried, God couldn't forget us. And He longs for us to lift our eyes from the stresses of our days and to remember Him.
And as we look to Him, the worries of the world melt away.
When we see Him we find strength to face the day.
And that strength comes from knowing that we are the loved by the King and that nothing else really matters.
Showing posts with label Isaiah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Isaiah. Show all posts
Tuesday, 24 September 2013
Sunday, 5 August 2012
Blue Skies
This evening, I flew home on a short internal flight. It was grey and raining when we took off and the plane wobbled as we flew up through the different layers of clouds.
The rain spattered and pattered on the windows and ran down them as we rose up through the clouds. And then all of a sudden, as we broke through the clouds, the rain ran off the windows and we were surrounded by blue skies. The clouds were puffy white islands beneath us that made me think of Aladdin and Jasmine's magic carpet ride.
Whenever I fly, I am always amazed by how, no matter what the weather is like on the ground, there are always clear blue skies above. It can be heavy thunder and lightning and a turbulent flight, but as soon as you get up above the clouds, there is an endless sky of perfect, uninterrupted blue.
In the same way, regardless of the storms in our lives and the 'bad weather' on the ground, if we can get up high enough and rise above the rain, we will find peace and hope in God.
But, in the same way that we can't make ourselves fly (a design flaw in my mind), we often can't lift ourselves up spiritually either. We get stuck beneath the clouds and can't see anything above them. In these times, we can ask others to support us and pray with us but, above all, we can ask God to lift us up.
Isaiah describes God lifting us up when we are exhausted and caught up in the storms.
"He gives power to the weak
and strength to the powerless.
Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion.
But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint."
The rain spattered and pattered on the windows and ran down them as we rose up through the clouds. And then all of a sudden, as we broke through the clouds, the rain ran off the windows and we were surrounded by blue skies. The clouds were puffy white islands beneath us that made me think of Aladdin and Jasmine's magic carpet ride.
Whenever I fly, I am always amazed by how, no matter what the weather is like on the ground, there are always clear blue skies above. It can be heavy thunder and lightning and a turbulent flight, but as soon as you get up above the clouds, there is an endless sky of perfect, uninterrupted blue.
In the same way, regardless of the storms in our lives and the 'bad weather' on the ground, if we can get up high enough and rise above the rain, we will find peace and hope in God.
But, in the same way that we can't make ourselves fly (a design flaw in my mind), we often can't lift ourselves up spiritually either. We get stuck beneath the clouds and can't see anything above them. In these times, we can ask others to support us and pray with us but, above all, we can ask God to lift us up.
Isaiah describes God lifting us up when we are exhausted and caught up in the storms.
"He gives power to the weak
and strength to the powerless.
Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion.
But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint."
[Isaiah 40:29-31 NLT]
When we feel tired and run-down and caught in the storms of this life, God can lift us and carry us above the clouds, to a place of peace.
Sunday, 1 July 2012
No Regrets
There is something profound about The Gilmore Girls.
In amongst the beautiful New England scenery, the tense family politics and the coffee-fuelled, quick-witted conversations, there are poignant comments and memorable remarks which linger long after the episode has finished.
In one such episode, after Lorelai breaks up with her fiance (Max) days before their wedding, Max is obviously confused and hurt. However, instead of raging angrily about the situation, when he next sees Lorelai's daughter, he says
Not just, "I have a faint hope that at some point in the future I might realise there was a lesson in that experience somewhere." Nope. "I firmly believe they were all worth it."
Many of my experiences don't turn out the way I wanted them to. Sometimes they turn out better than I am anticipating, and I am pleasantly surprised. But sometimes they turn out worse than I could have ever anticipated. I am hurt or disappointed or wounded in some way.
And my first reaction is to feel regret.
The word "regret" comes from the Old French "regreter" meaning to "bewail the dead", to mourn, to miss, to feel sad or disappointed about the dead. It is a word focused on the past, on something that was or could have been.
Whilst it would be impossible to forget the past completely, it is not helpful for us to keep going over and over it in our minds and in our hearts. We can become attached to the past and tied to it in a way that prevents us from moving forwards.
The past is finished. It is a dead thing, a thing behind us. We can look back on things that have happened in the past and learn from them, but we can't live in the past. And nothing we can do can change the past. And in this sense, regret is futile. Look to see what you can learn from the experience, whether good or bad, and then leave it in the past. Leave it to rest.
Isaiah tells us,
Learn from the past, grow from the past, be changed by the past. But don't hold on to the past, for it is a dead thing.
Look to the future.
No regrets.
In amongst the beautiful New England scenery, the tense family politics and the coffee-fuelled, quick-witted conversations, there are poignant comments and memorable remarks which linger long after the episode has finished.
In one such episode, after Lorelai breaks up with her fiance (Max) days before their wedding, Max is obviously confused and hurt. However, instead of raging angrily about the situation, when he next sees Lorelai's daughter, he says
"I don't really believe in regrets. All my experiences - even the ones that didn't turn out the way I wanted them to - I firmly believe they were all worth it."Wow.
Not just, "I have a faint hope that at some point in the future I might realise there was a lesson in that experience somewhere." Nope. "I firmly believe they were all worth it."
Many of my experiences don't turn out the way I wanted them to. Sometimes they turn out better than I am anticipating, and I am pleasantly surprised. But sometimes they turn out worse than I could have ever anticipated. I am hurt or disappointed or wounded in some way.
And my first reaction is to feel regret.
The word "regret" comes from the Old French "regreter" meaning to "bewail the dead", to mourn, to miss, to feel sad or disappointed about the dead. It is a word focused on the past, on something that was or could have been.
Whilst it would be impossible to forget the past completely, it is not helpful for us to keep going over and over it in our minds and in our hearts. We can become attached to the past and tied to it in a way that prevents us from moving forwards.
The past is finished. It is a dead thing, a thing behind us. We can look back on things that have happened in the past and learn from them, but we can't live in the past. And nothing we can do can change the past. And in this sense, regret is futile. Look to see what you can learn from the experience, whether good or bad, and then leave it in the past. Leave it to rest.
Isaiah tells us,
"Forget about what's happened; don't keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I'm about to do something brand-new. It's bursting out! Don't you see it?"
[Isaiah 43:18-19, MSG, emphasis mine]
Learn from the past, grow from the past, be changed by the past. But don't hold on to the past, for it is a dead thing.
Look to the future.
No regrets.
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