SCRIPTURE: Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.’ I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” Job 42:3-6 ESV
THOUGHT: There are limits to my cellphone camera. For example, when I get up to the top of the Smoky Mountains and want a picture of all those blue layers that are their stock-in-trade, I find I can’t capture with my camera what I see with my eyes. The view is immense and sweeping and changes my perspective on the valleys, but the camera can’t take it all in. So, I put down my technology and use the gift God has given me: eyes that see abundantly more.
Job of old had a moment like that. His “picture” of the God of the Universe turned out to just be like comparing a picture from a cellphone to one from the Hubble telescope. He repented in dust and ashes when his eyes got a bigger picture.
Well, when my spiritual life forces me to climb in ways I’d rather not, until my knees are hurting and the oxygen is thin, I am often rewarded with a bigger view. Suddenly all that I thought I knew along the way seems trite in comparison to what God has shown me. I can see that my anxiety was in vain – a truth that is alternately humbling and exciting.
Now all I have to do is remember. Whatever rugged climb I’m making will have its rewards, and its vista, and I’ll look back and wonder why I sweated the upward journey so much.
SONG:
Higher and higher we climb in a spiral
Amy L. Clemens, Bigger View, 10.13.23
Upward and onward toward heaven and you
Leaving behind lesser lights, lesser heights
Until all that’s left is amazing views…of how
Every bit of trouble comes with all the grace I need
And every bit of rubble is reused
Oh your mercy never fails and it taught my heart to trust
And the climb always opened up a view
Yes the climb always opened up a bigger view
PRAYER: Oh God, thank you that every bit of trouble comes with all the grace I need, and every bit of rubble is reused. And thank you especially for bigger views.
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ABOUT ME:
Blogger Amy Clemens is the author of Walking When You’d Rather Fly: Meditations on Faith After the Fall. In it she explores childhood sexual abuse and how it impacted her faith (or lack thereof) for four decades. You’ll find not only her story, but better yet, the Big Story of God.
Check out Walking When You’d Rather Fly, and learn more about the book and Amy’s other ministries. You will also find her devotional work at Words of Hope.
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