Stop to consider

I think we humans sometimes forget just who is in control of this entire universe and who it is who actually holds all things in motion.  We forget that our sphere of control is not really our own - but is something "granted" to us by a loving and caring God.  Lest we get ourselves all puffed up and proud about what it is we do, possess, etc., let us remember it is God who "lets" us rule everything his hands have made!  Sometimes we think it is the other way around - we do all the making and ask God to have a little oversight into the matter!  If we were to be totally honest, we actually have the intelligence we have to create because the Creator gave us that small bit of intelligence we possess!

I often think of the heavens your hands have made, and of the moon and stars you put in place.  Then I ask, “Why do you care about us humans?  Why are you concerned for us weaklings?”  You made us a little lower than you yourself, and you have crowned us with glory and honor.  You let us rule everything your hands have made.  And you put all of it under our power—the sheep and the cattle, and every wild animal, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and all ocean creatures.  (Psalm 8:3-8 CEV)

It is good to step back on occasion to actually consider what it is God has made and how it is we come into possession of what it is we have influence over in our own lives.  You see, although I am a mother of two, I could do nothing to actually cause the miracle of life's creation to occur.  I didn't create my womb, nor did I make the egg which would be fertilized, nor did I dream up the tremendous miracle of cells replicating at astronomical speed.  I "participated" in the birth of my children, but I did not create them, nor do I sustain their lives.  All this is the doing of one much greater than I - God himself!

I enjoy the times I get to be away from the hustle and bustle of my daily work life, often choosing a place to vacation which allows my pace to slow a little and my thoughts to be able to just focus a little on the beauty God has created.  I have enjoyed several trips to Virginia, where I took in many caverns extending deep into the earth, majestic with all the beauty of a crystal cathedral.  I took in the beauty of leaves changing colors, hillsides covered in lush green grass, and wildlife not normally seen from my own backyard view. Yet, even in the sparseness of my most recent trip through the Arizona desert via automobile, I took some time to reflect on the beauty of God in the tiniest of butterflies gently gliding across the roadside, and the prickliness of the tall saguaro cacti, lifting their "arms" toward the sky in what I imagined to be praise to the one who created them!

Equally as important is for us to remember who remains in control, even when we aren't. We often "get out of control" and think the entire universe is crashing in just because we are for a moment in time not able to "maintain".  Keep this in mind, my friends - God made us a "little lower" than himself, crowning us with his glory and honor, but he never made us gods! He still wants us to submit the control of our lives into his hands - just managing what it is he gives us to manage the very best we can - as stewards of his grace and love.

A couple things I would like us to remember today:

1) We have a limited focus, but one which is to bring intent and purpose to our lives. God places us in control of some things in this life, not because he needed help in keeping it all organized, or running smoothly, but because he knows we need purpose and intent to help us experience the value he sees in us.  

2) We don't always see what God sees, but it is good to stop on occasion to just refresh ourselves on just how majestic and totally awesome our God truly is.  Just as we might consider how it is the birds can soar high upon the wind drifts, or how it is the tiny caterpillar makes the cocoon from which it will "hatch" forth a totally different life, we might just consider how it is God elevates us above circumstances beyond our control, or creates something totally different from what our lives seemed to be at one point in time.  In so doing, we are moved to praise and adoration of the one who holds all of creation firmly in his hands.

We don't always "get this" when we are just going about the hustle and bustle of our daily routine, so build in time to reflect from time to time. We need these "seasons" of refreshing and refocusing.  They help us to reconnect with the one who made it all and the one who has a unique purpose in the design of our lives.  Just sayin!