From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Psalm 61:2
Yesterday, my daughter made her final selection for a wedding dress! Beautiful day in all ways for family and friends. To cap off the experience, we went to lunch all together in downtown Roanoke. As we walked out of the restaurant, my husband and I decided to continue walking. We saw grand, old architecture, art galleries, vintage shops, bookstores, the farmer’s market and more. The sun was shining and all was right in our world:)
Not exactly…We also saw the not-so-beautiful parts of the city. We saw a few people, homeless, who looked worse for the wear. We heard people yelling at each other. One young man approached us for money, saying he had been kicked out of the mission for fighting. We do not carry cash usually, so we were not a big help to him. It sort of shocked me how young he was. With him on my mind and heart, we continued walking.
John wanted ice cream and funny thing…he just happened to know a place! (I think he scoped it out before we even left the restaurant!) We went to an ice cream shop and enjoyed a brownie-batter cone. Even better than that cone, was talking to the worker there. She was so kind while we waited in line, that she reminded me of my sister-in-law, Suzy. She even looked a bit like her! You know me…I had to tell her that, and we started talking.
She was a sis in Christ! Somehow we got on the subject of the Rescue Mission and she told me that she and her sister, during the worst of Covid, helped to make 7,000 sandwiches for the homeless. I told her how we loved to buy underwear and socks for the Rescue Mission. Not quite as grand as making thousands of sandwiches, but we had a common bond! What a gift to meet her! Thank you, Lord!
That’s crazy! Her selflessness! While many others, meaning myself, were hibernating and enjoying the germ-free interior of my house, she was dong something completely different, serving others. Why? Because someone had to, she said. She had broken her leg last year and still had a lot of pain in walking. She wasn’t working , as the shop closed down for a couple months. She had these excuses NOT to think of anyone else but herself, but she didn’t.
She had a higher perspective than I did! She had a purpose, to make good come out of a tough situation. As we left the shop and walked up on the pedestrian bridge over the old railroad, the view from the bridge caught my attention! (The picture in this devo is from that bridge.) I had a higher perspective there! I could see the beautiful mountains in the distance! Although there were lots of shadows and tracks and gravel and old construction materials below us, the mountains were there, too!
I was reminded that, here on earth, we have the beautiful and the not-so-beautiful. Sometimes we fail to see the beautiful in a tough situation. Our trials are like the shadows that threaten to take away our view of God. There is often lots of stuff going on around us and we lose perspective. But the good news is, the Lord can give us a higher perspective! He makes us see Him more clearly, His will more clearly, the beautiful more clearly! Isn’t He awesome?
Dear Father,
Thank You for showing me what my perspective can be with You, through meeting the homeless teen, the ice cream shop worker and the view of the mountains You made. As I do not always pay attention, nudge me to see the higher view, a view above my own on earth. Help me to see what YOU see, all the opportunity to see and think and act outside of our own circumstances. You are so great and loving and I want to be more like You as I grow up. I love You so much! Amen
With the love of the Father to you, have a great day!
Christina
Glory in the Morning 