That's what someone told me last night as I was watching the sunset on the beach. I had just commented to a lady who worked at the restaurant and had stopped working to gaze at the sun setting that it seemed kind of silly for a bunch of grownups to be so excited about watching it.Cameras,cell phones,even video cameras set up.People scrambling to get the best spot to take that once in a lifetime shot.I mean,the sun setting happens on a pretty regular basis doesn't it? You'd think these people had never seen a sunset the way they're acting!
That's when the lady turned to me and said "You've never seen this one". Honestly,I was stunned at her reply,or maybe it was that her reply stunned me back to reality.You see, it's been pointed out to me recently that I am so busy and so consumed with my work that I am no longer a participant in life,but merely an observer. OUCH!
That dear lady had never seen me before yet she did not hesitate to point out to me the various shapes of the clouds and innumerable colors that all but seemed to set the sky on fire.Funny what you miss when it's often right in front of you, isn't it?
I've thought a lot about that,not being a participant that is. Going through the motions and all.And you know what? It is 100% true. I've been going through the motions at such a pace and for so long that I have all but let life leave me behind.Wow!
I don't know about you but that's a very sobering thing to comprehend.We do not have long upon this earth and as good stewards of the time we've been given, why should we sit on the sidelines?Why shouldn't we be an active participant of the life God has blessed us with?
All of this has given me a renewed sense of the magnitude of blessings that have been given to me.Where sometimes I get so distraught when I'm faced with defeat the better choice is to remember that in the big picture I have won far more than I have lost.
Oh, and that sunset on the beach? This is what I'm talking about….
And for the record, I was among the ones jockeying for position with all the other "tourists".
I've heard this message many times and felt it necessary to share. May our Lord break our hearts once again and place us upon the Potter's wheel to mold and shape us into something He can use to reach others.
Sitting on the beach taking this all in,I am reminded that we serve a God who is big enough to handle any problem I bring to Him.Nothing takes Him by surprise and it is impossible to escape His love for mankind.
No matter how puffed up I may become or dare to think I am above reproach,the vastness of the sea reminds me that I am as but a speck of sand in the grand scheme of things!