Elisha Eyes

Have you ever cried out, "Alas, my Master! What shall we do?"

The servant of Elisha woke up one morning and realized they were surrounded by the enemy.  The city was surrounded by horses and chariots and he cried out, "Alas, my master! What shall we do?

Elisha responded, "Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them."
And Elisha prayed. "Lord, open his eyes that he may see."

And the Lord opened the eyes of the young servant.  And he saw.  horses.  chariots of fire. round about Elisha.   II Kings 6:13-17

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

O Lord,

give us Elisha eyes that see beyond ---

Beyond today.

Beyond the struggle of this moment.

Open our heart's eyes to see

the power, the grace, and love
 You have encompassed us with.

For Lord,

You are Omnipotent, All-Powerful.

You are Omniscient, All-Knowing.

We come.  To rest in this Truth.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Greater is He that is in me, than he that is in the world.
We are more than conquerors through Him that love us.  Romans 8:37

Eyes to see beyond this moment of loneliness.  Jesus, You are more than the reality of this moment.  We are not alone and in our moment of loneliness, You want us to turn our eyes toward You.

Loneliness empties the world around us

to open our hearts to the world beyond us.

Eyes to see beyond the mountain of everyday responsibilities.  Responsibilities that seem, in and of themselves, mundane and even pointless.  This mundane urges us on to being faithful in the little. For it's in the faithfulness of little that we can be trusted to be faithful in the big.  Faithful in the everyday where there is no glamour.  For that, is where the rubber meets the road.  Am I able to do life without recognition, as a servant?  You, O Lord, showed us that in a real way.

If we are to be trusted with the big and glamour

we must be trustworthy in the little and mundane.

Eyes to see beyond the pain of loss and rejection.  For in this life we are but passing through.  There is a bigger perspective, a bigger picture and I forget that so quickly.  When I lose someone or something or someone has pierced my heart, it feels so defining.  It's not.  Jesus' Greater Truth wants to speak to our hearts and whisper it's definition... You are mine.  I love you with an everlasting love.  I am WITH YOU.  Emmanuel, is My name. Yes, it hurts, but it does not erase the Truth of God.
(clarification: There are levels of pain and stages of grief, so I am aware that healing is a journey and those stages need to be walked through.  If you are in an angry, pain-filled stage, that's ok...  My heart's desire and I believe it's God's as well, is to find Him in the midst of it; trusting Him and believing His Truth.)

In the moment of pain, is the moment that God is still there.

In faith, reach out to Him and cling to His strong hand.

Elisha eyes.

Eyes to see beyond...
Eyes to 'see' God and the power and strength we have IN HIM!
Eyes to see that He is for us and not against us.  
Eyes to see we are loved, deeply, by God!

Timeless Beauty

There is so much beauty in the usual, mundane, spectacular, hidden and obvious places.  I've captured a few and wanted a place to 'keep' them.

God is a God of beauty and splendour.  He splashes it across the sky.  He buries it in the depths of the sea.  He hides it under a tree or calls a flower to bloom out of the rocky soil.

God splashes it, revealing His beauty.  Other times He hides, calling us to search, dig, and want to find His beauty.

And in our lives, He redeems.
Taking ashes and making beauty.
Taking our weaknesses and shining His love and glory on them.

Beauty.
Glorious.
Sometimes Hard.
Sometimes Spectacular.
But all about HIM!

Paths to Ponder

Trails.  Paths.  Tracks.

Life.

Life is path, a journey.  We walk.  We run.  We meander.

There are curves and hills.  Places we cannot see far beyond and others we 'see' the world.

God is with us on our journey.  And sometimes we simply need to trust Him when we cannot see beyond.  Other times we must trust while seeing.

When Life Boils - What Happens?

A question asked by my youngest son one night during our evening meal, "Why do carrots get soft when they are hot?" brought to mind an illustration I once read.  You can read it by clicking the link that follows...
www.moralstories.org/struggles-of-our-life/

Hard things happen.
Life changes.
Our bodies fail.
We get sick.
Our ears don't hear as well as they should.

It's easy to blame.  To clench our fists and wonder why.  To harden our hearts against the pain that assaults us.  To be like the egg when boiled.

Jesus calls us to come to Him, pain and all.  To become soft in Him and allow Him to change the ashes to beauty.  Like the carrot or potato and coffee bean.

Come to Me... and learn of Me... all you who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest.  Matthew 11:28-29

Jesus does not belittle our pain, He is inviting us to come and learn of Him.  To know Him.

His strength when ours is weak.
His grace that sustains us when we feel we can't go on.
His love that values us beyond what other words we may hear.

To know Him as Friend, All-Sufficient Grace, Power, Light, Truth.  To experience His compassion, love, and embrace.

Lord, give us eyes to see beyond the pain and to see You.  The courage to rest in Your embrace.  The heart that finds You to be enough.
Lord, sometimes life simply hurts, we bring that pain to you because You care and ARE BIG ENOUGH to handle all that comes with a painful package.
Lord, we choose to believe.  Choose to trust Your heart towards us.  Choose to keep our hand in Yours till we are safely in Your Presence.

Lord, keep us.  Hold us.  Carry us.  Sustain us.

Thank You, for the love You so freely give.
Thank You, for revealing Your Truth in our searching moments.
Thank You, we love You.

A Snowy Day

It wasn't all majestic in this corner of the world today... but these moments are tucked in among the wrestlings, fightings, and drama of today.  Isn't that so what life is... hard, beauty, drama, fights, glory - a mixture and God is in the midst of it all.