Blog – 7-10-20
Back in the good old days when I used to travel in airplanes (which seems like an eternity ago!) I was always fascinated by the view outside the window at 10,000 feet. When you’re driving around on the ground, up close to everything, the streets and the layout of a city can seem very random. Even when you’re driving on country roads, you often don’t get the sense that there is any particular order or design to them. But when you view those same roads and cities from the air, it starts to make sense. All of a sudden, the country roads and farms that felt random look like a perfectly crafted quilt. The twists and turns of city streets magically transform into beautiful, distinct patterns.
You see order out of something that feels a bit like chaos. On one particular trip home from Nashville, I was marveling to myself how the higher you are above the ground, the more you see how things are laid out, the system behind it. The zigzags that feel like they don’t make any sense on the ground actually form a beautiful pattern from up in the sky. God gently reminded me that it’s a lot like that in our lives, and sometimes we have to simply trust His higher view. This year has been plagued with twists and turns! Plans have been changed. Events have been canceled. Every single one of us has been impacted in one way or another by a seemingly random virus. Yet in the midst of this, I feel God making order out of the chaos. I’m not saying He caused the virus, He didn’t. I am saying, however, that He can and will make order and sense out of it because that’s what He does. Maybe it’s time for us to stop for a moment and ask our loving Father to give us a glimpse of the higher view He has for each one of us in these precarious times. Maybe the financial difficulties we are facing are ripe with things to teach us about how we spend our money. Maybe the slowdown in our schedule is a chance for us to take a hard look at how we fill our time and eliminate some of the clutter in our lives. Maybe the isolation is a time for us to take an honest look at how deep our faith roots really go and draw nearer to Him. Think about how crazy things looked from the ground when Jesus walked the earth. No one expected the Messiah to be born in a stable. No one expected Him to be rejected. The twists and turns of His life led him to the cross, not exactly what anyone hoped for or expected. Yet the Good News for us is that God entered the disordered mess of humanity and brought new life in the unanticipated journey of Jesus. God made a way that didn’t make sense to most of the people on the ground at the time. They didn’t believe salvation could come on a cross, but it did. God saw the bigger picture. He knew what the sacrifice of His son would mean for us…EVERYTHING! I encourage you to take a minute and try to get a higher view of our current situation. It may feel scary. You may feel overwhelmed. You may feel like the entire world has gone crazy. I get it! But think about that amazing view from an airplane for a moment. Think about how getting above things changes what you see in the world around you, how sometimes what looks like chaos really has purpose and intention to it. This is a great verse to contemplate as you do this: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 (NIV) Even if it’s only for a moment, that higher view might just get you through the next obstacle you face, helping you trust and believe that God works EVERYTHING for your good! Hugs and love, Jill