I get up around 5am every morning. I go out on the patio, light a fire in the fire pit, and sip my first cup of coffee. I read the Bible, pray, and write these posts.
Yesterday, the sun rose on a cloudless, crystal blue sky……it was beautiful. Today, it is cloudy, threatening rain, and cool……almost fall-like……….it is beautiful. Soon it will be very cold with a light frost, and later……. snow………and that too will be beautiful.
We get deeply immersed in our to do list. We are so busy pulling on the levers…….running the machine that is our daily life, that we fail to sit back, take a minute and appreciate the beauty that is our world…….at least the part of it that God created.
Have you ever just sat on your porch and watched a thunderstorm? Better yet, I once experienced a hurricane, up close and personal. The power, the glory of it was awesome.
I have come to realize that nature, the direct result of God’s creation, is beautiful……all of it.
There is no such thing as a natural disaster.
A wildfire may destroy homes in California. A volcano may destroy cabins in Oregon. A hurricane may flood a city in Louisiana. The human stuff that is destroyed, the lives that are lost is tragic. But the storm itself, in its power, is majestic.
We get upset…….because our human plans are disrupted. We get upset……..because our man made stuff is destroyed. We forget that these “natural disasters” are one face of our creator. They are a reminder of his power and glory. They are a reminder of how small we are…….and of how inconsequential the things that we build are. In 1000 years there is not a thing that we have built that will still be here……..except, perhaps for our waste. If there are still people around, they may read about us, but they will not remember us.
So we need to decide what we will focus on as we go about our day….. the temporary life we are living and the stuff that we are accumulating and maintaining……..all of which will soon be gone……or the power, glory, and majesty that is our creator……who is eternal.
Do we focus on the lower eighth ward in New Orleans?
Or do we focus on the storm?
I can assure you that we will rebuild New Orleans. I can also assure you that it will again be destroyed someday. Katrina, or another storm with a different name will return every year for as long as this planet exists.
So…… where is this going?
There is a critical truth hiding here.
The conflict between our stuff and the storm is the same as the conflict between our temporary society and God’s eternal society.
Our earthly lives and our temporal stuff will not survive.
The storm will prevail.
God will prevail.
We have to choose which to focus on.
We have to choose which to put our treasure in.
In a way, we must choose which to worship…….the temporal…….or the eternal……………our stuff……..or the storm.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Jesus, NIV
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Paul, NIV
In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. But you remain the same, and your years will never end. The children of your servants will live in your presence; their descendants will be established before you.
David, NIV
For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
Paul, NIV