Corona Devo 201

Have you looked in the rearview mirror lately?

Yesterday as I was driving west, the sky was still dark and morning had not yet broken.  But changing lanes, I glanced in my rearview mirror, and caught my breath at the peach-purple-pink-watercolor sunrise that filled my mirror and the eastern horizon.  

The sky in front of me was not yet lit, but I could see such beauty behind me.

I realized that God was painting me a picture, if I wanted to "see" it.  

The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. ~Psalm 126:3

I took an emotional pit stop (I kept driving physically!) and began to review the hand of God in my life over the past few years and months.  Too often, we are so busy moving forward that we neglect to stop and look back on where we have been, and it can be a gorgeous view.  

There are certainly trials in our lives which run the gamut from sickness and death, to disagreements and lack of purpose.  But I believe God is glorified when we take a moment from time to time to stop and smell the flowers that He has planted and then brought-to-bloom in our lives.

In-the-middle of chaos, there is very little clarity, but God is absolutely near in those times.  And later when I review them, I see with clarity the beauty of what He was doing--whether in me, or for others, or around me.  When we look in the rearview mirror of our lives, God can bring clarity to our previous chaos. 

The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. ~Psalm 126:3

As the world slowly begins to "open back up" (albeit with tons of Corona pre-cautions), we can look in the Corona rearview mirror and I see beauty in what was initially fear and panic.  The immediate "stop" of all activity and schedule was like quitting an addiction cold-turkey.  It was hard, painful and caused us to feel lost.  But I was blessed by the serenity that an open schedule and family meals eaten at the kitchen table (instead of in the car on the way somewhere) brought to my heart and mind.  The activities that cluttered our schedules also cluttered our minds and spirits by depleting us.  When we look in the rearview mirror of our lives, God can bring tranquility where we were previously steeped in stress.

Not only has God done great things for us, but we are filled with joy. ~Psalm 126:3 

There is hurt and hatred seeping out of many places and people, but we cannot let that mask our glow for Jesus.  Negative activity does not negate the positive things that God has done in our lives, and the joy of those outcomes.  Be filled with joy!  This verse gives us the cause (The LORD has done great things for us), and then the effect (we are filled with joy.)  If we will take a moment to look in our life's rearview mirror, we cannot deny all that God has done, and that should create an effect on our lives: Joy!  Just as viewing the sunrise made me catch my breath, may it be the same as we realize how God's sovereign hand has been over our lives.  Lord, allow us the pleasure of being filled with joy for You.  And Father, allow us the boldness in today's society to be filled with joy for You.  

The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. ~Psalm 126:3 

As I continued to drive and think, the sky in front of me brightened with sunlight and a new day began.  He is doing great things for us right now.  It may feel like chaos or struggle or sickness or quitting something (or someone) cold-turkey, but believe it (and look in your rearview mirror to prove it): God is doing great things.  The hard part is that often at the catalyst or in-the-midst "great things" feel like painful things or humbling things or even crippling things.  But that's because there is always a process to becoming great and also in following-God.  And the initial stages often happen when everything looks dark, and before the sun has risen.  But give God time to work, because He is creating a thing of beauty.  

Pause today and look in your rearview mirror to see yesterday's hard things that have become today's great things.   

And be patient and hopeful in today's "darkness", because in time, and in His own way, God turns our nights into beautiful sunrises.

The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. ~Psalm 126:3 

Have you looked in the rearview mirror lately?

Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com

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