Been learning a lot about perspective lately. At the beginning of this year I made a list of simple goals and things I wanted to do better to further my faith. I guess it could be “new years resolutions” in a way, but it was really just more of a prayer for my life and for this year. At the top of my list was to see more of God in every single day. As cliche as it is, while everyday might not be good, there is still so much good to be seen in everyday. I wanted to focus more on that good. I told a friend about it and starting January 1st, we talked about and told each other where we saw the Lord at the end of our days. We’d sit and see the goodness throughout each and everyday and overtime our hearts grew to be so much more grateful for this life. Some people call them glory sightings, which I think is really wholesome, and they have truly changed my overall perspective for the better. Even if I don’t share them with someone that day, I’ll write it down and thank God for it in my notes. It’s been one of the healthiest habits I’ve ever picked up. Sometimes it can be a really hard day, but I can still thank God for the roof over my head and the food and water I get to put in my body. Or it can be a really good day and I can see God through the people who impacted my life or the sunshine in this beautiful world. I’ve talked to God the most through all of this.
I think sometimes we think we have to hear God so clearly in order to know that He’s talking to us or know that He is there. I think if we believe this, we’ll have a hard time hearing from Him at all. We forget He’s all around us if we’d just look for Him in the small things. I can’t speak for other people, but I personally don’t hear God’s voice audibly too often, if ever. And I for sure don’t see Him face to face. However, I still hear Him and see Him all the time.
When I was going through the decision process to come here, I was searching for God’s voice so strongly. I was looking for a “sign” or a simple “yes” in a prayer. I got offered a spot on this trip as well as an offer for a post college job at the same time and I had to pick one or the other fast. The next day I left to spend the week in Guatemala for my final college spring break mission trip. I spent the week investing in my mentors there for wisdom and advice and prayed and prayed for God to tell me which opportunity to take. Truth is, I never got an “audible yes” that I should come to Africa. I never got a sign that told me where to go. I never got it written in the clouds as I looked out the window from the guest house all week. However, I never got a “no” either. But I did get a verse shared with me that changed my perspective. In Psalm 37:4 it says “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” I always read this verse as if you needed to delight yourself in the Lord first, and then he will give you desires to do His will. I thought it was this two step process. Then someone very wise shared with me that through delighting ourselves in the Lord, He gives us the desires we need to do His will. He literally GIVES them to us and then He trusts us with them too. I don’t really think there was one exact choice that I was supposed to pick that was going to make or break His plan for my life. Missions is a desire that I got from the Lord alone and through His word I decided to choose this trip first, and then take a job in my field when I get back to America. I think sometimes we just expect for God to do the work for us. We expect Him to tell us everything we need when we need it. That would make us miss out on the point of relying on Him and the things He does give us. It would cause us to miss out on the subtle small things and the beauty He created around us.
I sometimes wonder if the people always trying to listen for His voice or looking for cloud shapes miss the whisper of God’s creation.
God has yet again blown away my expectations with glory sightings here. I hear God and feel His new mercies during the rain coming down on the roof as I wake up in the morning. I hear God through the nightly cool breeze brushing through the tall grass throughout this whole compound. I see God in the breathtaking sunsets outside the kitchen window while I do the dishes after dinner. I feel God’s love in the kids in the orphanage and all the staff here. I see His goodness so clearly in the kids dreams for their futures. I see His purest form of love in the kids whose dream is to own their own orphanage one day and care for kids who lost their parents just like they did. I see His hope in the kids who want to be the next presidents and prime ministers of Ethiopia and the kids who want to be pilots and farmers and social workers. I see His heart in the incredibly beautiful smiles of the kitchen ladies who greet me every single morning. I feel His steadfast love in their hugs and a kiss on the cheek day after day. I feel His compassion in the friends that I’ve made in the village who I get to share my story with and hear about theirs. I feel so much of His joy radiate from the sound of laughter of the kids playing in the soccer field and all of the different sounds of nature surrounding me. I feel His presence in the stillness of this place. Creation sings His praises through the mountains in the distance and the fields as far back as I can see.
God’s love and beauty is literally always surrounding us. We just have to have the right perspective to see it. I’m not saying it makes everything easy and good but it is a lot harder to be negative and ungrateful when you point out the goodness of the Lord each and everyday. It’s life changing and life giving and I challenge you to see the beauty in your normal everyday. It’s also a lot easier to share His love to others when you so easily recognize it yourself. You can start by naming 5 things you see the Lord in currently. You can start by doing daily glory sightings and thanking the Lord for them everyday. Wherever you are in life, rest assured that there is incredible beauty in this season, even if it seems like everything is going wrong. Rest assured the Lord sees you, trusts you, believes in you, and has given you the sweet desires in your heart.
