11/14/2017
If you were to look around right now would you see God in everything about you? Could you look at the items in the room, or the trees in your backyard and say “God, how magnificent you are!”, or would you struggle to find him? Seeing God in every aspect of our lives, and in every scene, thing, or occurrence that makes up our lives, takes spiritual training.
“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”
Colossians 1:16-17 KJV
Every day we are surrounded by God and the evidence of His existence. How could we not see Him; after all He created everything we know... everything beautiful or ugly, cuddly or offing, colorful or mundane, sweet or poisonous, loving or vicious, they are all the work of His hand. Their interaction with each other, and us, were determined before the Word was spoken that created them, and it was all in preparation for our arrival.
Have you become numb to God, and His hand in your life? Do you walk through life looking at the handiwork of man and praising what he has done while overlooking the glorious nature of all God did, and does, to make this possible? Do you take pride in your own intelligence or creative ability and think it deserved, and a natural occurrence of some lucky combination of genes? Does it scare you to realize you aren’t in control? Or, do you think at all?
“One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”
Ephesians 4:6 KJV
I can’t tell you how many times I am told by someone who reads my poetry, or writing that they wish they could see God in all the things and circumstances of their lives like I do in mine... the truth is... they can, and they should. We have become so conditioned by reality, and I mean this to be the real world we live in as opposed to the spiritual one, that we forget we are creatures that stand with one foot on solid ground, and the other in heaven. We forget that the real world we see, and even the eyes we see it with have been given us by the very spiritual world we have grown to ignore. Oswald Chambers says it like this...
“We can all see God in exceptional things, but it requires the culture of spiritual discipline to see God in every detail. Never allow that the haphazard is anything less than God’s appointed order, and be ready to discover the Divine designs anywhere.” - Oswald Chambers
When we reopen the spiritual side of ourselves, when we become conscious of our spirituality, we suddenly realize that the hard and firm reality we once treated as the all in all is just a leaf floating on a sea of spiritual enormity. It is poised precariously by surface tension and with the least jostle will sink into it. In a moment it could be reabsorbed.
“And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.”
Colossians 1:17-18 KJV
I am not saying this to make your life seem insignificant, but rather to open up the enormity of the gift that God has given us in this creation, and our lives. I say this so that you will become aware of the fact that what we often think of as totally separate from the spiritual God who created us is indeed nothing more than clouds are to the sea.
Look again at the room, and world around you... what do you see? Can you see God now? Maybe you need to walk a few steps further before you can run; maybe you need to begin by seeing God in some things before you can see Him in everything.
A Glimpse of Heaven
I caught a glimpse of heaven
In her newborn eyes
Held her gently to me
Tiny little sighs
Skin as smooth as satin
Soft against my cheek
Little brown eyes open
Just to take a peek
Sudden jerk like falling
Granddad holds her tight
Shhhh, my little angel
You’re safe with me tonight
If time were to stop
At a moment such as this
I’d swear I was in heaven
Sweet smell, a cheek to kiss
Rich Forbes
7/7/05
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the gift of life, and for all of creation that you brought into existence so that you might place me in the midst of it. I thank you for the complexity of what is real, and what is spiritual. I thank you most Father for the realization of You in all that surrounds me. How great are you Holy Father, and how wonderful your love for me. I walk each day with Jesus and He teaches me, not about the divide between heaven and earth, but about how there is no divide at all. He teaches me that the echo of creation has never lessened and that your word is just as alive today as it was when spoken. You are in everything I see, feel, smell, hear, and sense. You are the beauty of the sunrise, the fear in the storm, the dread in growing old, and the wonder in the eyes of a child. Nothing passes that is not real in your word... in your ultimate love and grace I praise your name. In your creation I give you thanks.
Rich Forbes