The picture I snapped from a distance is a bit blurry, but you can still see him: a red cardinal sits on a limb at the back of my yard -- a tiny pop of red in a vast sea of green. How striking and beautiful. It causes me to smile.
He flits away, but I know he's still around, I just can't see him. How like our awareness of God's presence. Once in a while, we become acutely aware that He is here with us and that awareness is such a delight -- like a bright pop of red against a sea of green. Then it's gone. Our awareness of His presence has flitted away. His presence isn't really gone, we just can't see or feel it. There's a huge difference in those two statements.
"Lo I am with you always..." (Matthew 28:20) is a promise from Almighty God. Indeed, when a person becomes a Christian, the Holy Spirit actually takes up permanent residence within our body and soul. "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" 1 Corinthians 3:16. It's a mystery, but nonetheless true.
Here's a couple more encouraging verses to assure you that He's always right there with you: "For He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you'" Hebrews 13:5; and one of my favorites, "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" Romans 8:38-39.
Why don't we live with more awareness of God's presence in and around us? It's called "Life" and it tends to get in the way of that blessed awareness. We don't need to beat ourselves up over it, but we do need to seek out that awareness on a more frequent basis. Don't let the cares of this life insulate you from the feeling of God's presence.
A group called Big Daddy Weave sings a song I love - this is the chorus: "Every time I breathe You seem a little bit closer / I never want to leave / I want to stay in Your warm embrace / Oh basking in the glory shining from Your face / And every time I get another glimpse of Your heart / I realize it’s true / That You are so marvelous God / And I am so in love with You."
The closer we draw to our blessed Savior and walk in an awareness of His presence, the more joy we'll have in our lives and the more "pops of red against a sea of green" we'll delight in.
Excellent thoughts, Sandra! We all need to be more aware of the Lord, looking for fellowship with Him. Loved your cardinal photo, too. You should see some of mine before I had any kind of a zoom. (You have to use your imagination to even see the red!) Funny!
ReplyDeleteLove the picture of the cardinal and your post. When I lived in Ohio, I had a birdfeeder right outside my window. I always knew when there was a cardinal at the feeder by their chirp. The male always came first to feed while the female sat in the brush nearby. When the male finished, they traded places while the female ate. I suppose they were watching out for one another. As you've pointed out, God surely watches over us and is always present, the habits of the cardinals also reminds me that we are to watch out for one another, pray for one another and protect one another. Love this picture of God's love through nature.
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