One of the joys of having our, just turned two year old, grandson, Luke with us, for three weeks over Christmas, was to see and hear how he is growing and developing day by day.
One morning his mum told me smiling, “He woke up today singing, ‘Oh what a beautiful morning! Oh what a beautiful day!'”
I chuckled that he had picked up so quickly one of my favorite morning songs : – )
I go on to adapt the old “Oklahoma” hit with,
“I’ve got a wonderful feeling!……. everything’s going HIS way!”
I have received a lot more varied responses and emotions from folk over the last few weeks. I suppose I invited it : – ) From people enthusiastically affirming and sharing other links which offer a similar perspective, to others who are seeing and feeling things very differently. As I said, all are equally appreciated.
As I was asking the Lord further about this he whispered to me “You are a watchman on the tower.’ He subsequently confirmed it when our son Robin presented me with a CD of the old Bob Dylan classic, John Wesley Harding.” – a very prophetic album for these days!
I still remember as an avid Dylan fan my excitement as a teenager acquiring a vinyl copy when it was first released and eagerly consuming every song as it played on our old ‘record player.’
That inimitable guttural rendering of
“All along the Watchtower……….” came booming back into my consciousness.
As I have over the years sought to describe to you the scene as I survey it from that watchtower where I have been stationed, it is inevitable some will see some version of what I see and others will not.
On the one hand I am raising the alarm that I see an enemy not just at the gates but in midst of the city! On the other hand as I have said before I have never known as much peace or joy in my life for as the song says,
……. everything’s going His way.
In the midst of “the Storm of the Lord” we need to learn to ‘Behold the Beauty‘
Beholding the Beauty of the past as Psalm 23 states……”surely Beauty and Bounty will follow me all the days of my life.” (M.V.) As I’ve said before unless we make regular habit of pausing to ‘turn around and reflect’ as God points out to us his faithful care and workings in the past, we will miss the opportunity to have our hearts swell with gratitude! As the old hymn says.
Praise to the Lord who o’er all things so wondrously reigneth
Shieldeth thee gently from harm or when fainting sustaineth
Hast thou not seen how thy hearts wishes have been
Granted in what he ordaineth. Granted in what he ordaineth.
Beholding the Beauty in the present again requires that we ‘slow down to look’ (even take a photo of) the people, things and events that are right in front of us…. that painting that has hung on the wall unnoticed for ever, to ‘smell the roses’ ….or in my case as I type this, to pause and let my eyes feast on the snow flakes falling ever so gently (just like our good and gentle shepherd)
Beholding the Beauty in the future is another word for ‘faith’, as we ‘drop down to imagine’ what that ‘future full of hope’ (Jer.29.11 M.V.) is going to look like because we know ‘the Sovereign Lord” and are confident as I’ve often sung before, “All Will Be Well.” ….in fact “All is now well” because we are precisely where we are meant to be on this journey that has been charted out in Christ for us and for all humanity from before the foundation of the earth. (Eph.1:4, Rev.13:8)
One thing I ask from the Lord,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
ALL THE DAYS of my life,
to gaze on the BEAUTY of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple. (Ps.27:4)
As we dwell in ‘the secret place of the most high‘ gazing on his beauty, we need not fear, no matter what happens in this coming week, because we are beholding that ‘perfect love’ that casts out all fear. (Ps.91, 1 Jn.4:18)
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear, but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of sound judgment and personal discipline [abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control]. (2.Tim.1:7 Amp.)
P.S. Again to say, I post what I am lead to post, and as I was working on the blog about BEAUTY I was listening at the same time to a follow up interview with Juan O Savin featured on The Called – Makings of a Perfect Day. He was describing how one thing Artificial Intelligence cannot do that humans can…. is see BEAUTY!
As I concluded writing the blog, and then listened to the rest of the interview, I realized Juan and I had landed in the same place!
Don’t be afraid!………..Trust in the Sovereign Lord!
So
Turn off the TV…….Take a few deep breaths, and….. Behold the Beauty!
For the time has come, for Good to Triumph over Evil
“Toward the final conflict God’s word our command
We move inevitably onwards, God’s weapons heard in our hands
In Him we shall do more than conquer; before our Lord who can stand
Man shall glorify his Maker, God shall be enjoyed
And that one called The Deceiver; his works shall be destroyed.
For the kingdom of this world it shall become
The kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ
And He shall reign for ever and ever more.” **
** Born Into A Battle