Life Moves Fast
Tuesday, August 30th, 2011“Yep, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” – Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Words to live by. I know it’s been weeks since I’ve written anything. And it’s not like I haven’t tried. I’ve started at least three different posts and have ideas for three or four more, but I just can’t seem to get a minute to do any writing. It’s been a busy summer. We went to the beach for a week; that was good. There was summer camp with the youth group; that was exhausting. I picked out Christmas music for the choir; that took a couple of weeks. My son came home for a week; that was fun. Then there were the renovations at work. And now summertime’s nearly over and it’s back to the grind. Whew!
I always look forward to summer to kind of get a break from the normal grind. Having a break is a good thing, as long as you’re not just exchanging one rat race for another. You know what they say, “All work and no play…”
This morning I saw the most beautiful sunrise while I was out for my morning run. Thank you, Lord, for a broken treadmill. The air was crisp and the sky was clear the way it usually is right after a storm. My driveway runs east to west and I could just see the horizon over the treetops beginning to turn red with the dawn. The gravels in the driveway crunched beneath my feet; the sounds of nature were all around.
In the distance I could just make out a squadron of indistinguishable black dots flying in perfect formation coming directly toward me. As they drew near I realized I was seeing a flock of geese. How on earth do they know to do that, to fly together like that so perfectly? Not the product of evolution; surely this can only be evidence of the hand of God.
My driveway is exactly two tenths of a mile. Five laps up and back equals two miles. With each successive turn the light of the sun got a little brighter, its warmth radiated a little more. By the end of my run it had risen a full finger above the trees and I basked in its glow. Thank you, Lord, for keeping me injury free yet another day. Thank you for the beauty of your creation.
What did Jesus do when He was feeling stress? After the feeding of the five thousand, certainly a very stressful day of ministry, we’re told in Mathew chapter 14 that He immediately loaded the disciples into a boat and sent them across the Sea of Galilee. Verse 23 says, “And after He had dismissed the crowds, He went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone.”
Ever wonder what Jesus talked about to His Heavenly Father? Did He ask for direction? Did He ask for strength? Wonder what He saw up there on the top of that mountain? Did He see the sunset? Surely He saw the storm clouds forming that lay ahead. I can almost picture Him sitting on a rock somewhere under a sycamore tree and just worshiping in the beauty of the Father’s creation.
When we’re tired and feeling stressed, that’s the time when we can be the most vulnerable…vulnerable to temptation, vulnerable to discouragement, vulnerable to despair. On my GPS there’s a place up in the mountains on Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park about forty minutes from my house that I’ve labeled “Best Sunset”. My wife and I found it together on our anniversary. While amusement and relaxation has its place, sometimes what I really need more than anything is to dismiss the crowds, the cares and concerns, the sources of stress and go up on the mountain, and watch a sunset, and worship the Lord, and pray. Life moves pretty fast, ya know.
