Guided thoughts, 11

Sometimes it's hard to see anything except what is right in front of your nose.... don'tcha think?

Seriously.
We've all been there.
Staring down your own mortality because you are flat on your back in bed, possibly in a hospital environment.
Glaring at money troubles, with the bills laid on the desk in front of you.
Gazing out the window, blinking back tears, because you just had a fight with your spouse, your child, or your neighbor.
We get tunnel vision.
All we can think about is that we might be stuck in that bed from now on, or we might have that pain from now on.
All that occupies our mind is that the money just isn't there to pay those bills.
Nothing else sticks in your head because you are hurt from that argument that just happened.

Circumstances can look really, really bad in front of us.
Things can look unsteady. Unbeatable.
Yep, been there.
And it's exceedingly hard to take when someone chirps cheerfully to us, in Pollyanna tones. Things could be worse, they tell us. Look at the bright side, they say.
Oy vey.
Don't want to hear that right now.

One time that I was there, I read about a situation that has made sense to me ever since. Maybe it will help someone else, so I will tell the story . . .

On a perfect football afternoon in 1982, the Badger Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin was packed full with a standing-room-only crowd. The die-hard University of Wisconsin fans were watching their beloved team get pummeled by the Michigan State team. Wow, was it lopsided by the time the third quarter rolled around.
The announcers kept asking each other why so many of the Badger fans were cheering madly -- absolutely yelling their heads off. Their team was being crushed!
Here is why: just seventy miles from that stadium, their popular Milwaukee Brewers baseball team was beating the St. Louis Cardinals in the third game of the World Series! Most of the fans in the football stadium were listening to the baseball game on portable radios, and were cheering like crazy because the Brewers were winning....seventy miles away!

They were not focused on what was right in front of them. (Grin)

That's how life is for us believers.
There will always be circumstances that try our patience.
That make our spirits droop.
And we may not want to hear that Pollyanna chirping.
But we do still have a lot to cheer about in life.
Even when things look unbearable, and unpredictable, and even unbeatable, we can take life head on, by focusing on things other than in front of our noses . . .

For we walk by faith, not by sight: (II Corinthians 5:7)

Heads up! Look past that "thing" that's right in front of you . . .

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— (John 1:12)

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (Romans 8:15-17)

You, dear friend, are a child of the King. You are one of His masterpieces. You are a part of His plan.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

You are His friend, and He has a mission for you, so commit the things "under your nose" to His care -- and to His strength -- and then concentrate on the things that make us want to stand up and cheer! (And then fall on our knees to thank Him!)

You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other. (John 15:14-17)