Today, I spent four hours outside. The weather was absolutely beautiful, about 75 degrees; warm, with a slight breeze. This time with God was just what I needed. I began to see things that I overlook on a regular basis and quite frankly, just take for granted sometimes.
-the birds outside nesting in the trees,
-the carefree movement of the clouds,
-the carressing of the wind as it moves the blond pieces of hair away from my face,
-the simplicity of life,
-how nature moves to its own rhythm, quite different from that of humanity.
And, as I was sitting in my wooden chair reflecting on my day, I realized that I need more of this "alone time" with God. My friend calls it "honeymooning with Jesus." Hour after hour spent with Him greatly stirred that passion inside my heart. My eyes are starting to look like his, my heart is starting to beat like his, my hands and feet are becoming calloused like his, and my words are starting to be His.
This "one-ness" was recently expressed through a friend's wedding. Through pictures and personal interaction with the happy couple, I could see that their entire marriage is based on a foundation - the love of God. They long to bring Jesus to a broken city and want to do that together.
Spending time with Jesus today rightly aligned me with his plan for my life. Not the "big one" that so many talk of after college, or the one in the future that only happens when you enter the "real world" but, rather, his plan for my life today - right now. It was to spend time with him, to get to know him better (like any relationship needs), to refocus my life on the things that truly matter the most, and to be humble in coming to terms of where I fit into his plan.
As you can probably imagine, God and I had a long talk. Only this time, I was the one doing the listening and his Holy Spirit was the one doing the talking. And I realized that the places where I thought I had full control of my life and knew the desired outcome, were simply not true. Scripture verse after scripture verse, I was reminded of God's majesty and power in all situations - even those that seem less than favorable.
The following verses that are in bold font really stuck out to me:
Ecclesiastes 8:1-17:
1 Who is like the wise? Who knows the explanation of things?
A person’s wisdom brightens their face and changes its hard appearance.
2 Obey the king’s command, I say, because you took an oath before God. 3 Do not be in a hurry to leave the king’s presence. Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. 4 Since a king’s word is supreme, who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
5 Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.
6 For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a person may be weighed down by misery. 7 Since no one knows the future, who can tell someone else what is to come?
8 As no one has power over the wind to contain it, so no one has power over the time of their death.
As no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it.
9 All this I saw, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own hurt. 10 Then too, I saw the wicked buried—those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless.
11 When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong. 12 Although a wicked person who commits a hundred crimes may live a long time, I know that it will go better with those who fear God, who are reverent before him. 13 Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.
14 There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless. 15 So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.
16 When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the labor that is done on earth—people getting no sleep day or night— 17 then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.
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I've learned to just be who I am when I am with Jesus. Our relationship forces me to take off the masks that I wear. I've learned to look at Jesus in order to see a true reflection of my real self. My eyes are finally off of me and my circumstances and I have fully embraced the lenses that he has given me.
A quote by Thomas Benner from the book, The Gift of Being Yourself:
"God is not alien to the circumstances of our lives but comes to us in them. Our challenges is to unmask the Divine in the natural and name the presence of God in our lives."
(copyright june 4, 2011 by alex puleo)
