Perspective……

God is so gracious, and the other day was no exception to that. As I was sitting in my car stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic in one of the worst areas of Phoenix in 110 degree weather, God gave me a gift. Even though I was fairly comfortable in my car with the AC blasting on my face and popular praise songs penetrating my ears, I looked around at my surroundings and in a brief moment I thought to myself, “this is less than ideal”, then I tried imagining what my neighbors on the highway were thinking. Some may be driving to their dream job, others to buy an engagement ring for the love of their life, still others on their way to an appointment with an oncologist with very little hope in their life, or maybe some of them just left a house with some form of abuse taking place and stuck on a highway in volcanic-like temperatures might be the safest and most comfortable place for them. Just then I happen to look up to the sky and see the most beautiful waves of wispy clouds rippling as far as the eye could see, with the sun kissing each one of them, accentuating the divine detail in each ripple, the beauty of Gods fingerprint on display. I also noticed in the horizon a few silhouetted palm trees, and it was then that it hit me, this beautiful picture that God created that morning for me, was the same picture I had a few weeks ago, the only difference was a monumental change in attitudes. A few weeks prior I was sitting in the sand, with a book surrounded by loved ones instead of strangers, gazing at the same sky, with the same beautiful clouds, the praise songs were replaced by crashing waves and the distant laughs of kids playing, and the AC was replaced by the salt infused breeze coming off the ocean.

What a gift from God!! Not only the beauty in His creation, but this new found realization, that my surroundings and circumstances may change, but God doesn’t, I may be in a frustrating gridlock of life, being tried and tested through the intense heat from the refiners fire, or I may be enjoying the rest that God graciously blesses us with from time to time, in which I can shut off the world and breath in that refreshing respite from God. The light bulb that went off in the car that day was, GOD is always GOD {i know, deep…right?!}, and He is always the same distance from me, His intimacy and love for me never changes, after all He is the Immutable God with no shadow or variation [James 1:17]. Just like my distance to the sun, I was no further away in the streets of Phoenix, than I was on the sands of the Outerbanks. No matter if there is a billowing Cumulonimbus cloud {cloud from ground up to 50,000 ft} in your life right now tempting you to doubt GOD’s presence in your life, He has not moved He is still there, and perhaps that cloud is there by design to exercise your faith in the Almighty. Knowing that the Creator of all will never leave nor forsake His children, is an eternal truth that represents the beautiful paradox of God’s immensity and His intimacy. Hard to comprehend but even harder to frame our mind correctly between the 2 guide rails.

The dichotomy of God’s immensity and intimacy, in relation to us is simply fascinating, and one that requires biblical guidance to set our mind correctly, of walking with a fear of God [1 Peter 1:17, Phil 2:12, Heb 12:28-29], as well as calling on Him as Abba “Father”, with confidence in the time of need. [Gal 4:6, Rom 8:15, Heb 4:16]. On one hand He is a consuming fire, and yet on the other hand, I have the privilege to call upon Him as Father in the privacy of my bedroom. We cannot speak of His grace and love at the expense of His holiness. His holiness is why His grace and love have infinite value to us.

So I throw this out there. What is your gaze set upon? Is your mind being framed by your current circumstance, or is it being framed by the Almighty, who has given us His only Son to gaze upon, for our fulfillment, and consequently our delight? The One in which our hope is fixed, Jesus Christ, and is the source of inexpressible joy that results in praise and glory to GOD our Father. Our lives will take us through a continuum of circumstances, but through it all our God will never move or change, He is always there, more faithful than the sun, which rises and sets each day, is His Son which is the Rock on which I stand.

My word to you is this, take a moment, the next time you are “stuck” in seemingly God absent circumstances and gaze at the sky, and reflect on the faithfulness and proximity of God (as Creator and Father), which is always as close as a prayer. Block out whatever is around you, and know that the same sun you are looking at, is that same sun that is shining on the glimmering waters below the stilted bungalows in Bora Bora. Our God is good all the time, not just when your environment makes you happy, the joy we have is eternal, super-circumstantial, and surpasses this worlds understanding, one that is anchored in Christ [Heb 6:19], thus it is one that we can never loose.

Rejoice, for the Son is always shining, even amidst the chaos and frustrations of life!