Weekend Words

 From Behold the Lilies...

"Man's goings are of the Lord; how can a man then understand his own way?" - Proverbs 20:24

"Do all things without murmurings and disputings." - Philippians 2:14

The view of my home from the top of the hill was different.  Instead of looking horizontally at the house and barn, I looked down on them.  Instead of seeing only patches and spots, I saw the whole place.  I had a distant, encompassing view rather than a close-up view.  How refreshing it all was.

Another time I had the privilege of looking down on thousands of treetops.  The sight was completely different from that of looking up through the branches and leaves of a tree.  I was humbled and awestruck as I gazed at the swaying sea of green.  It impressed me to realize that God sees each individual leaf among the millions of leaves below me.  Then I thought of how He also sees me and cares for me.

The view from above is different.  It takes in the whole plan, the complete layout.  The view from below sees only patches and spots.  The narrow view from below allows us only to look at things, while the wide view from above allows us to look on them.

You may wonder why the Lord had brought you to a certain place or put you in your circumstances.  You may have struggles you cannot understand.  God has a perfect layout, an overall plan into which you fit.  He does not expect you to understand everything, because you do not have the view He does.  But He expects you to trust His view and plan.  He reveals enough of His plan in the Scriptures to give you a refreshing view even though you do not have the same lofty position that He does.  Then someday, if you keep trusting, you too will see things from a heavenly point of view - and you will see that His plan was perfect.

From In Green Pastures...

A Lamp for the Footpath

God's Word as a guiding light is a lamp unto our feet, not a sun flooding a hemisphere.  It is not meant to shine upon miles of road, but in the darkest night it will always show us the one next step; then when we have taken that, carrying the lamp forward, it will show us another step, and thus on till it brings us out into the full, clear sunlight of coming day.  It is a lamp, and it is designed to lighten only little steps, one by one.  We need to learn well the lesson of patience if we would have God guide us.  He does not lead us rapidly.  Sometimes we must go very slowly if we wait for him.  Only pace by pace does he take us, and unless we wait, we must go in darkness.  But if we wait for him, it will always be light for one step.