"There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight. What is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs." Matt 10:26-27
October '23
After several days of unseasonably hot weather I wake to all encompassing mist. I step out of the door to walk, wondering if a coat is needed but not ready to succumb to autumn chills. I’m enveloped by a blanket of dampness as I make my way up the hill, my normal viewpoints produce misty scenes rather than beautiful vistas…….so I need to look closer…….what can I see, here in front of my nose. Cobwebs - so many cobwebs, I guess there’s always this many but their beauty is breath taking, so carefully spun, bejewelled with the damp mist, sparkling in their uniqueness.
The dandelion clocks downy frame, glistens with diamond droplets. The mist muffles any sound and draws my attention to my own footsteps and to the occasional falling leaf. My mind wanders back to the weekend, sun drenched views of distant cliffs and boats bobbing out at sea!
But in the here and now, in this moment in time, there is no distant view, no clear path.
I think of my dreams and visions, the things that God has whispered to me in the past, often in similar times to these, when I couldn't see the way ahead.
As I linger I can see the beauty of this moment and hear His whisper, His voice near by, even if I can’t see the way ahead.
I can choose now what to do, I can think my vision is gone or I can wait quietly, knowing that in God's timing the steps ahead will be made visible. For now my faithful footsteps gently plod on over the damp ground and I return home. The dampness on my face, reminds me of His presence so close.
"Let all that I am wait quietly before God,
for my hope is in him." Psalm 62:5
for my hope is in him." Psalm 62:5
Feb '23
I wander along stopping to listen to the robin and the crows, the sun now starting to regain its strength, feels warm on my face. I suddenly notice the blackbird in the depths of the hedge beside me, I look at him and he flies deeper in. My normal path is starting to come alive, I crouch down to look at the red dead nettle beside me, to wonder at its tiny flowers and beautiful purple downy leaves. So much of what I used to see here, I ignored, walking on hoping to find some particularly splendid, rare thing further on …. I don’t know what I hoped to find! I walked past the sparrow, the blackbird, the nettle, dandelion and ivy passing them off as boring. Over time though as I stopped to actually look at the ordinary, I am discovering the ordinarily extraordinary, God’s little masterpieces that punctuate my every day.
I am reminded of these words from Romans 12 in The Message Bible
“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.” Romans 12:1
God wants our ordinary, everyday lives as an offering, to find our special gifts in our everyday lives, not the things that other people have to offer, but ours. God wants us just as He made us to be. I realise that as I accept this about myself it’s so much easier to see other people’s ordinary everyday gifts too, then I can help them acknowledge them and thank God for them too.
