Seeing Clearly

 

I sat on an old bench near the back of our property yesterday.  We have the good fortune to have the river in our backyard.  As I gazed on the stillness of the river, I was reminded back to when we first moved here over 25 years ago.  Whether I was in the kitchen looking over the backyard or walking around the property, you could see the river clearly.  Nothing obstructed the view.

Twenty-five years later and as suspected, much has changed.  The trees are larger and more mature.  In all their beautiful glory, they tend to become a barrier to a clear picture of the river.  That is, until you get closer and look between the trees and the bushes to see the beauty of the water.  One of the reasons we moved to this house was to be on the water.  Although we do not see it as clearly as we used to, it is still there with all its beauty.

Sitting on the bench, and seeing with clarity, brought me to Jesus.  There are many times when we see Jesus with such clarity.  We see the “red words”’ of the Bible come to life in our lives.  Perhaps the clarity is seen in answered prayers.  Maybe we clearly see Jesus in the wonder of the world around us.  There are always the miracles around us where we see Jesus here on earth – healing, love, birth, blessings.  Those are times when our eyes are upon the Lord.

There are also times when our view is more obstructed, like the mature trees.  Our days are busy, and we do not have ‘a chance’ to see the red words of the Bible.  We need to run off to work or errands and our prayer time can ‘wait for another day’, never mind being still enough to see prayers answered.  The beauty of the flock of turkeys in the middle of the road becomes an annoyance as it puts us a few minutes behind.  The simplicity of every day blessings gets hindered.  I am guilty of this, are you?

My friends, life does get busy.  Between work, errands, family commitments, and school – the list can go on and on.  We can fill our lives, or we can have our lives filled.  When we clearly see Jesus, our lives are filled.  By having simple faith that Jesus will ensure everything we need to do gets done, we can rest by spending time seeing Him clearly.  By ensuring our view to Jesus is not impeded, we are able to see Him and His love for us clearly. 

Get that clear river view of Jesus.  Do not let the mature trees of life stop us from seeing His blessings and His glory.  Give thanks to the Lord for the clarity you have, and may it deepen your faith, the simple faith, which seeing Jesus face-to- face will one day be our reward.

Dearest Jesus, help us to see you clearly in all the moments of our days.  Help us to put aside the things that obstruct our vision and move us to focus on you.  Provide us the simple faith that you are the brightest light for us to follow.  Amen!