a spiritual squeegee
Sometimes our vision becomes cloudy, unclear…as I looked out my window one summer morning, I was reminded of that. My window was covered in drips of water from the hot, humid night before and the cool air stirring early morning. I couldn’t see clearly outside. All was a blur. However, the same fragrant flowers, the same delicate birch tree with its branches hanging low, the green grass and clear blue sky still remained. All the beauty was there. Nothing had changed. It was only that my vision had become obscured by the moisture on the window….by what was momentarily in front of me.
It is the same in our own lives…we allow the momentary troubles, distractions, worries, and stress to blur our vision to the beauty in our lives. Something goes wrong in our day…the car breaks down, the AC goes out, the cat pukes on the floor, the kids wreck the house…and suddenly it’s like a smoke screen goes up…it’s like our window to our world becomes hazy and blurred and we can no longer see the beauty of our lives right before us.
If we have too many days in a row like that (what we refer to as “death by a thousand cuts”) or we have something major hit us, the screen can become thicker and thicker until our view is only darkness and we see no light or beauty at all. Daily, we must take a spiritual squeegee in our hand and wipe off our window, clear our vision, so that we can see all that God has given us. Each moment in our lives that is marked by beauty.
How do we do that? We start in His life giving Word…we have to open our Bible or grab a devotional that we can quickly read when we don’t have a lot of time. Take a quiet pause and let God’s Word remind us of the beauty of His grace, mercy, and love.
We must also open our eyes to the wonders and beauty around us. Begin to picture our world like a photographer sees it through a camera lens. Take snapshots of moments of beauty and gifts right before us. Count our blessings! Really count! And, give thanks. Some days that may be really hard. If so, then stop and worship God in song. Find a way to praise His name. Psalm 100 is a great start!
These two simple things work like a super squeegee. The Word and thanksgiving can set our focus again to see our lives clearly and overflowing in grace.