Looking Upward
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2
The Lord never ceases to amaze me in the endless creativity He uses to teach me His ways. Take, for instance, the day I cried about my floor not to mention the several days I spent obsessed with it. Maybe the rest of the world hasn’t cried over a floor, let alone learned a lesson from God in the midst of the little challenge I faced, but the Lord will use anything in my life to further grow me in His image – even a floor. I am the first to admit I have no right to complain over a floor issue considering how privileged I am to be able to minister to people who are homeless. But there I was anyway throwing a two-year-old temper tantrum over the floor.
What happened? I am an evangelist, author, and caretaker/mommy of 15 special needs and senior rescued dogs with no staff, no volunteers, and a barebones budget. I dedicate my life 24-7 to the Lord and ministry. When the special needs dogs ruined the floor with urine due to their incontinence and frequent medication-induced urine, stinking up the house to no end, I angrily, miserably, exhaustedly tore up the floor myself and discovered underneath a sticky, ugly, uneven mess. One paralyzed dog loved the floor due to the traction it provided for his wheelchair. The other paralyzed dog bloodied her knees dragging herself around. The urine continued, and I could barely keep up with cleaning let alone finding the urine due to the varied coloring and texture of the cement-glue-etc. mess, I had nobody to help me, I couldn’t come up with a flooring solution, and I had a zillion other responsibilities to deal with first and foremost to return my focus to God and press on with my devotional writing and ministry work.
One dog had just passed away, two had been diagnosed with probable cancer, I had just learned more details about my dear friend being found dead with a gunshot wound to her chest, my ministry was rapidly growing, I was EXHAUSTED and refusing to slow down, and out poured the tears.
The lesson from God? He reminded me He didn’t create us to look downward at the floor and ground and trials of this life, but to look upward to Him with love, adoration, worship and obedience, and to rejoice in Him. I wish I could say I always keep my eyes and heart upward, but so often it seems He lovingly by His Spirit gently lifts my head upward until I am once again focused on His magnificent beauty and everlasting grace.
Don’t look down at the floor of life. Look upward to the glory of the Lord!