April 12, 2010
Traveling across country over the past few weeks has reawakened my awed attention to God’s intense eye for beauty. Springtime is upon us and with it the glorious rebirth of old things made new. What once appeared dead is now made alive with fresh growth. I stop to listen to the singing of the birds and know they understand the transformation of their habitat. Their songs break forth in praise to God for offering them His unlimited bounty of provision. And I am compelled to “be still and know that He is God” (Ps. 46:10). What I feel far exceeds the old axioms, “Take time to smell the roses”, “Stop and count your blessings” and so forth. But it is time itself or the lack thereof that prompts me into acute awareness. To borrow a phrase from King David, “I once was young, but now am old”, I, too, realize that there’s more of my life’s road behind me than remains in front of me. No, I’m not being negative, but am simply more conscious of the fact that the day that I will stand before the Lord and give an account for my life is nearer than when I first began my spiritual journey some 40 years ago. I find myself questioning, “Do I have any buried talents?” “Have I lost a coin along my way?” “Am I truly affecting ‘my world’ during my appointed time?” You may say I’m taking things too seriously, but am I? Can anything be more serious than answering to God for one’s life? But this is a happy time for me, because, like the birds I’m rejoicing in my new season. I once heard a minister say, “I’m finally old enough to say what I want without sugar-coating it”. I guess I am too, at least old enough to be taken seriously.
God’s interest in beauty doesn’t stop with His master artist’s stroke across the canvas of the world around us, nor in the glorious spectacle of creatures that we share our world with. But His most keen concern is the canvas of mine and your lives. It is ‘His’ desire, not our own, that creates beauty within you and I; the beauty that fills our souls with a yearning to be transformed into His likeness. Time itself is a thing of beauty because God is not relegated to it. Just when we think our time is over, that we’ve reached our peek and its downhill from here; He picks us up, dusts us off and reawakens a new life of passion for His kingdom’s business with a fresh anointing that is impossible to quench! That God inspired fervor literally drives us to dig up those long buried talents, search out those long lost coins and remember that each day dawns with a ‘divine appointment’ to joyously share the love of Jesus.
Can I look back and truthfully say, “I have no regrets”? No, for I have many. Still, yesterday is dead, just as the harsh winter we’re only now awakening from. But today is new and tomorrow is full of hope. I have been called for such a time as this! From here on out I mean to make every moment count! Fly to the side, my feathered friends, it’s time for me to sing my song of praise! God’s Word tells us that “He makes all things beautiful in Him time”…and that includes you and me!
