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GLEANINGS FROM THE WORD
Encountering an extraordinary God in ordinary life
Issue # 156 June 2, 2001
The Symphony
Late one evening last weekend, while away on a men’s fishing retreat, I sat outside and listened to the sounds around me.
Sometimes I could hear the coyotes of the area singing to one another. One would howl a little and from another direction would come the sound of a different coyote. Before long there were several singing in some form of harmony.
Other times there would be the sound of loons laughing on the lake. Or the honking of Canada geese flying overhead.
Two squirrels scolded each other for having the nerve to come onto the others territory.
A variety of songbirds took turns serenading each other.
Ducks quacked and carried on endlessly.
A raven sat in a nearby treetop, cawing and squawking in its own deep, hoarse tones.
A red-winged blackbird sat atop some cattails and whistled. Across the lake another blackbird answered.
A big fat bumble bee buzzed by in its search for flowers.
Frogs peeped and croaked.
From a nearby campsite, came the sound of children laughing.
The combined effect of high notes and low, beautiful songs and coarse squawks and grunts seemed like a beautifully orchestrated symphony of praise. Each bird or animal had their own section and their voices together had a very soothing, relaxing effect.
Some of the sounds on their own were pleasant, others hit notes that were not at all pleasing to my ear. The effect of them overall was quite astonishing.
I think that I would have missed something if I hadn’t taken the time to listen. The “music” would have been all around me still but I wouldn’t have been aware of how it fit together. The loss would have been mine.
It’s like that with Jesus, He’s hard at work all around us, orchestrating a beautiful symphony of love and patience, He demonstrates miracles in the extraordinary events of life and in the mundane.
Yet, if we don’t stop to think and look, we miss seeing Him. It is our loss, because it continues whether we see it or not.
It was true while Jesus walked the earth as a man. The Pharisees and many others saw Him at work, but they didn’t understand and it was their loss.
It is still true today. The world today is full of people who are too busy, or too deceived to see His hand at work. Too blind to see. His message plays for all, but we are too deaf to hear it.
Jesus spoke of these people "Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: "`You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.'” Matthew 13:13-15 NIV
Until next time, may your eyes and ears be opened to the beauty of God’s wondrous hand at work in the world around you.
God bless.
Kevin
If you haven’t seen His hand at work, but long to find it, email me. I’ll share a few Bible verses that will show why a relationship with Christ is important and a prayer that will make it possible. I pray your eyes and ears be opened to Him today.
© 2001 K.F. "Kevin" Corbin
All Rights Reserved