As I looked out the window of the plane I saw the familiar clouds dotting the sky beneath me. I’ve seen clouds before…I’ve even seen them from the window of a plane on more than one occasion…but for some reason this day they looked different. The white puffs were protruding toward me like an image on a 3-D screen. The bright blue sky looked as if it hung miles below the suspended stacks of billowing clouds. They hovered like the giant helium balloon figures in a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. I felt compelled to look for the numerous ropes leading to hundreds of people on the ground tasked with keeping the clouds from floating out into space. These were just clouds…but I saw them this day in a different way. I’m not sure why I never saw them like this before…was it just perspective? I thought back to a sermon I heard recently.
“How many of us see the world, but not the work of the Lord?” The question floated out over the congregation like a rain filled cloud. We had just read the accout of Saul’s encounter with God. Saul’s sight was lost for a while, but this would lead him to become a follower and servant of the Lord. In the midst of these verses was a short powerful note… “Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing..” Acts 9:8. I could not stop thinking about those words. I’ve always thought I was spiritually aware…but this question, and those words, hung around my heart as if an early morning fog was settling in. My eyes are open, but am I seeing what God wants me to see? Do I see His workmanship? Am I missing a better view? Is there more to what I am looking at? It is possible to “look” and not “see”. It is like when we hear something, but do not listen. As a former high school teacher I can attest to the possibility of someone “hearing” your words and still missing your message. I have given numerous “brilliant” lectures, unlocking powerful educational truths, only to later realize none of them had any idea what I was trying to teach them.
The more I watched the volumous piles of white outside the plane window, the more I realized how much I may be missing. God surrounds us with so much of Himself, I don’t want to miss any of it.
Lord, help us draw closer to You, so that we may not miss
one moment, movement or message which You set before our eyes.
Tuesday With Teri 