For me, colors are dull and boring, some even unrecognizable… but not when I put these ‘bad boys’ on; the world around me comes to life!
The best way to describe what I experience when I put them on, I guess, is like turning on a light behind a stained glass window. All of a sudden the design explodes in brilliance… and I am amazed at the sight.
Sometimes when I’m wearing them during a spectacular sunset or sunrise, I still ask my wife, “Are you seeing this? Is this for real? Are the colors as bright and vibrant as what I’m seeing?”
I have these crazy childhood memories of sitting in someone’s office looking at cards with colored dots and trying to find figures among the dots. If you’re color blind you may relate to what I’m writing.
Needless to say, I never again want to miss something colorful and beautiful.
The author of Psalm 27 knew something a lot of people miss sometimes, that God is both attractive and desirable. So David wrote a prayer we should make our own,
“I’m asking God for one thing, only one thing: To… contemplate his beauty.” Psalm 27:4, MSG
Do you ever find yourself focusing on the bad and what you lack rather than on the good and what you have? That sort of smears the beauty of God’s grace and charm, doesn’t it?
Too often we’re missing what is excellent and could be satisfying because of who we are and our ideals.
Many years ago when I started to pastor the church I’m in, one of the leaders was a friendly guy but with a bad attitude. Sounds like an oxymoron but he was the embodiment of negativism with a smile. He even carried around a little black notebook in his front shirt pocket (yes, he wore a shirt with a front pocket that was also stuffed with pens) where he jotted down what in his opinion was bad.
Whenever there was a church meeting, that man would pull out his black notebook and ‘fire away’ at me, the church, and, if allowed, the world at large.
But then something happened, he had a heart attack and a subsequent quadruple bypass surgery. When I visited him in the intensive care unit after the surgery I thought, “This dude’s done for.” But he survived, and his life was radically changed for the better!
I asked him about it and he told me that for too long he had been missing the greatness and wonder of God and His creation. “Now I take walks everyday,” he added, “and notice all the little beautiful flowers I had missed before.”
If you’re the kind of person that sees the glass half empty instead of half full, how about whispering a prayer on a regular basis that you don’t miss the beauty of all that God is and all He has made.
I was bringing a couple of milkshakes home the other evening and noticed a sundown worth checking out with my hand-dandy sunglasses on,
Once again I was blown away and thanked the Lord for the beauty before me.
So, how can we shift from living with a shroud of dullness that covers the eyes of our hearts and minds so we can enjoy a vibrant life?
The first thing to do is ask God to help us recognize and see His beauty. We don’t want to miss that.
Also, let’s set our minds to look for and anticipate that which God makes beautiful! We’re often caught in the been there, done that, so what syndrome so we’ve become calloused, unmoved, oblivious, and indifferent to the greatness and beauty that’s all around us.
People ask me if I wear those sunglasses wherever I go and the answer is, “No.” I use them only when I sense the unveiling of the spectacular happening before my eyes and without fail the beauty of the moment becomes fresh and new and I am once again wowed!
A life that’s often wowed by the creator never becomes dull!
Thanks for reading. Please leave me a comment.
Jorge, every day as I drive across the causeway to go to work, I witness the magnificence of God’s creation. Whether it is a dolphin breaking the surface of the water, a rainbow after a storm, or an osprey flying with a fish it has just plucked out of the river, God always puts on a show!
Unfortunately, as the day progresses, the “work blinders” get put on and I lose sight of God’s creation wonders.
Your words today remind me that I need to maintain my focus on God so I don’t miss out on the beauty of God!
Work is a necessity, but even during the work day, we can still take a moment and enjoy what God has placed all around us.
So well said, my brother, the Lord’s beauty and what He has done in creation can be so easy to miss. We’ve got to to stay disciplined to look for it and anticipate it.