Beauty in the Midst, Part 2

It is easy to get hung up on all the negativity that exists in the world. Sometimes I go online to check the news and instantly regret it. Every headline is filled with something negative. If you let it, this can quickly bring you down. And that is just the external stuff.

When we look into our own lives, there are sure to be things we would have preferred not to experience: loss, disappointment, pain, betrayal.

Some of it we may have even caused.

Now, the enemy would love for us to wallow in the sludge of self-pity. But like the white cedar trees that caught my attention over and above the bursting bins, we, too, can rise above the negative. We can zero in on all the positive things in our lives; we can focus on our blessings. As I admired the trees, another thought struck me about the world at large. Yes, the world can be a downright ugly place. We must acknowledge that, since the fall of man, there has been the perpetration of some of the worst atrocities ever known to man by man. We are told, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9, KJV). However, we are counseled, “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Colossians 3:2, NIV). So let us ask God to adjust our eyesight to enable us to see His beauty in the midst of all of the ugly. His beauty can be seen everywhere: in the random acts of kindness people do every single day in an encouraging phone call in the missionary’s commitment in a stranger’s smile in a friend’s hug in a baby’s chubby hands clasping both of your cheeks Amid today’s crazy, chaotic world, God’s goodness can still be seen.

So sister, be on the lookout for beauty today, and let it capture and hold your attention. Jeremiah reminds us, “The LORD’s unfailing love and mercy still continue, fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise” (Lamentations 3:22, 23, GNT).

Or as beautiful as white cedar trees blossoming next to overflowing bins.

Michal Herry-Romney