Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 ESV
Rejoicing, praying, and giving thanks put the circumstances of our lives, both good and bad into God’s hands and help us see them through His eyes. Last night our beloved daughter-in-law Melinda slipped from this world into the presence of Jesus. And while we are overwhelmed with grief and shock, these words are promises to which we cling. Melinda has finished her race. Her battle with cancer is finished. And while that pernicious disease claimed her physical life, it could not touch her soul. That remained fully and exclusively in the hands of Jesus with whom she now lives. Nancy and I didn’t know how to process the news that came in three words. “She is gone.” Yet as sadness rolls over my heart I sense the message echo back from Heaven, ” She has arrived!”
I was just 20 years old and had only been a Christian for a little while when I first heard the Dallas Holm song, Good Samaritan. Because Dallas was already very popular, I assumed that he must have been much older and than me. Little did I realize that Dallas was just three years older and had written the lyrics when he was only about 18-19 years old. Isn’t it amazing how the Lord gives songs like these to young people and yet the words and style can touch everyone, including the seniors at Life Care Center. Maybe it is because, the idea that God sees us and is willing to come to our rescue no matter our situation, touches every one of our hearts. So, no matter what you are facing this week, remember that, just as the words of this song tell us, “His eye is one the sparrow, so why not me?”
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. Romans 1:8 NIV
I love photography of, mountains, rivers and open prairies., but due to the aches and pains of advancing age I cannot get out into the wilds of nature these days. But we have been blessed by what the eyes of our friends have seen, in their many spectacular photos. Neither of them writes much, and their favorite reading is usually about the campsites at the next national park they plan to visit. But when they take shots from the ridge of a mountain range or zoom in on a wolf crossing their trail it generates a special artwork that communicates something more than any words. Today’s brief post is simply an expression of my gratitude for them generously sharing the special moments that they have experienced. I hope you will enjoy this montage of the last few years of their adventures.
But immediately, when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to them. Mark 2:7b NKJV
“It’s the eye of the artist, Bobby” my friend’s 91-year-old grandmother replied to his protestations. “That window you installed just isn’t straight.”
“But grandmom, I checked it with the level,” Bob replied
“Check it again,” she answered with a smile. Bob sighed, set his level back on the windowsill, and was shocked to see that grandmom had been right!
How a writer sees things, or in Jesus’s case, how He perceived them, will govern what is written. My step-dad, who was a commercial artist used to tell me, “You can’t paint what you think you see, you have to paint what you really see.” Picasso’s famous painting “Guernica” was far from the realism. Instead he utilized a style that was called “Cubism.” Guernica was a small town that suffered a devastating bombing during the 1937 civil war. Though his painting misses the details that the wartime photographs revealed, it was a perfect representation of how Picasso saw its horrors.
Every writer, for better or worse puts pen to paper and paints what they see with words. While artists from da Vinci to Andy Warhol have plied their trade with red, orange, yellow, and the rest of the rainbow, writers put on paper the shades of infinitives, participles, and adverbs. Every good novelist had learned how to structure thrilling plots, write flowing dialogues, and paint vivid pictures of their characters, but those of us calling ourselves Christian writers have the added duty to do more than entertain. God calls us to see what He sees. He gives us the awesome responsibility to share what He sees, especially in seemingly hopeless situations. He asks us to level the window that the world is looking through and to notice glimmers of hope in dark places.
Just as when Jesus saw in His spirit the hearts of the Pharisees, He gave words of forgiveness for a paralyzed man, we can point to God’s grace in failure, refreshing for exhausted neighbors, laughter, and joyful stories in frustrating times. God calls us to paint more than we think we see, and even more than we truly see. He hands us a torch and asks us to shine His light on the paths of others to show the hope that He, the Master Artist, has helped us see today!
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