Today is our 19th anniversary! It blows my mind that 19 years have passed by already since we stood in my parent's yard and I said, "I, Taylor, take you Betsy." (Yes, I really did. We have it on video tape.) And yet we have 4 great kids, lots of gray hairs and many experiences that we would have ever imagined.
One of favorite singers is Ben Rector. He sings a song called "30,000 Feet" that speaks the words that are flowing through my mind right now. He is telling an amazing story about a man he meets on a plane. He and this older man exchange stories and its a bit surprising to find how similar the stories are. The chorus reveals their similarities when it says:
"I have been better and I have been worse.
I have loved a pretty girl.
I've seen a couple places that I'd never thought I'd see
I've walked into harder times.
I've walked out the other side.
It seems like you end up getting what you need.
Looking down from 30,000 feet
Life's been good to me."
When I first heard this song I just cried and cried, because it is so deeply true. As Ben sang his song it was as if flashes of our life went through my mind. The good and the bad. The love that is a treasure. The places that we have seen that we NEVER would have thought we would see. Some of those places were amazing and some of those places stunk. But all of them yielded amazing fruit in the end. Some places brought intense joy and some brought intense pain. But the reality is we are still walking forward and some really good days we are running forward. God has been so good to us and we always end up getting what we need.
There is another part of the song that I love as well. It reminds me that the perspective we have in this life is very important!
"Sometimes we can get lost
Living in the here and now.
Sometimes it take the skies
To see what's on the ground."
When we are in the hard places and life is overwhelming we need a higher perspective. We need the Lord to help us get above what we are seeing to be able to see a bigger picture. Getting "lost in the here and now" is when we are overwhelmed to the point of losing our bearings. And in this life we have to keep our eyes on the goal. An archer has a target and when his eye is on the target he has a much better chance of hitting the bullseye. If his eye strays from the target then his aim will follow.
So in the midst of the mess of life we have to remember where we have come from, to help our perspective. We have all come through places "we never thought we would see." We "can do all things through Christ who strengthens us," and we have already seen Him bring us through many challenging places. We could share the stories of walking into hard times and coming out on the other side for hours as we drank a cup of coffee. We just have to refuse to get stuck in that past and leave it behind us. Learn from it just don't drag the junk with us as we head forward.
And we also can't get paralyzed by the junk of today. Although it seems huge, because it is right here with us we have to remember that we will get passed it too. Not to negate the pain of where we are, but to flex our faith muscles that we are resilient and we will move forward because we have been created to be over comers! So today, if you are struggling, take to the skies and allow the Lord a opportunity to give you a new perspective!
No comments:
Post a Comment