Head In The Clouds....

I had a fairly significant revelation this week that I wanted to share.  I was taking one of my evening walks when God gave me this understanding.  I am pretty certain that I was boohooing over some circumstances of the day....or possibly that day and the one before, primarily concerning my mommy-life.  I was asking God over and over, "when is this going to change?" and "when is that going to look different?"  When I finally shut my mouth (and yes, I take walks on my country road and rarely have more than 2 cars pass me in 2 miles....so I often talk aloud to God), He gave me some understanding that shed new light on my questioning.

When God speaks to me--as I believe He does with most of His children if we give Him the chance--He speaks to me in ways and words that I can understand or relate to.  So what He impressed on me was that the problem with most of us (myself very much included) is that we spend so much time looking forward.  What?!  Aren't we supposed to look ahead?  Fix our eyes on what's ahead...not behind?  Well, in a manner of speaking yes.  BUT, what God then said was that we are so busy looking forward at our horizon that we often fail to look up...at Him!

You see, the horizon can be beautiful at times and we can even become mesmerized by it!  Or (because life just plain stinks sometimes), our horizon might appear very discouraging.  I am not in the camp of denial-mentality Christians who think that somehow they are--or should be--exempt from life's messes.  You can choose to think that way, sure.  But you will quickly lose hope because you're believing a lie.  Jesus himself said that *in this life we would have trouble, but we should take heart because He has overcome the world.  I think we need to learn to be thankful in all circumstances and train ourselves to give thanks always...no matter what.  That being said, focusing on our horizon has the potential to become discouraging.  We can become irritated with the distractions or junk we see coming.  We can wonder when our horizon will ever look different!  We can even wish our horizon looked more like another person's...that we were headed in their direction.  Ahh...the comparison trap!

Moreover, we might become overly confident in what we think we are doing to create such a beautiful, seemingly endless picturesque horizon.  We might imagine that we are surely doing something right to see what we see ahead!  And while some of that might very well be true, we can falsely begin to depend on what we are doing rather than depending on God's goodness and grace!  In fact, we can (if we're not careful) begin to trust in what we see ahead, rather than trusting in the Creator of our horizon.  It's not at all wrong to look at our horizon, but we must be careful not to focus on that alone.

What God then impressed upon me was that we need to look up!  During this particular evening walk, the sky was very overcast.  But, as I looked up and allowed my eyes to truly take in the vast expanse of God's skies, I realized that even an overcast sky could appear magnificent.  When I looked up, I was reminded that there is so much more than what my eyes naturally see.  I was so in awe of the Creator God when I looked up and around!  It was then that I took my eyes off of what seemed apparent and evident and I began to dream about endless possibilities....because He is a God of infinite possibilities and wonders!  I was also freshly reminded to look to His face because that is where I find peace.  And often, even when there are clouds in the sky, if I look up I see His light shining right through them.  

God used this analogy to remind me to keep my eyes on Him!  It's not bad or wrong to look ahead.  And certainly I should move in the direction that I think He is leading me.  However, I cannot trust my horizon!  I have to put my trust in Him!  He is way bigger than my circumstances, however wonderful or lousy they may be.  In order to put my trust in Him, I have to look to Him....to gaze at Him!  Sometimes it truly is best to have my head in the clouds!


*John 16:33