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.