The weather prediction for the day was rain, highly unusual for the Coachella Valley desert near Palm Springs, California (We only average 4" of rain per year!).
But as the sun began to light up the sky, sure enough, there were the dark billowing clouds with the beautiful glow and the promise of a morning shower.
So, of course, I grabbed my go–to Sony A6000 mirrorless camera, jumped in the car and went to one of my desert favorite places to shoot the sunrise. The pinks and yellows were especially vibrant with a hint of orange.
I saw a girl on her early morning walk coming my way. She was walking briskly, obviously exercising for fitness. When she saw me, she asked, "What are you looking at?" I smiled, almost with a bit of disbelief, because the sunrise was so magnificently beautiful that morning. I pointed to the sky and said, "The beautiful sunrise."
When I said it, she kept walking, and, at first, she didn't even look. I was kind of shocked because I didn't understand how anyone out there wouldn't have seen this amazing beauty from our Creator.
I watched the girl walk away and she did glance back a couple of times at the sky, but then just kept going as if it was no big deal.
The incident gave me pause to think, "Life is like this sometimes." Where we look determines what we see. And sometimes we can just miss it. We can sometimes miss the Lord at work in our lives.
We need to learn to look to the Lord.
In the Old Testament, the story is told of Jacob, who was sent to his uncle's home and family to find a wife. Jacob had another reason to leave home. He was not on good terms with his brother because he had stolen his brother, Esau's, birthright and obtained great blessing from his father, Isaac.
Jacob found a certain place along the way to set up camp at sundown, rested his head on a stone, and went to sleep. While asleep, he dreamed of a ladder from earth to heaven, and he heard the voice of the Lord say to him, "Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you" (Genesis 28:15).
When Jacob awoke, he came to a life-changing realization, "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it" (Genesis 28:16).
Dear friend, Jacob's realization is one we need to all come to in life. The writer of Hebrews tells us, "And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do" (Hebrews 4:13).
Do you realize that the Lord is with you? Look to the Lord moment by moment as you journey through life and you will learn to depend on Him all along the way. That is what Jacob learned and it is what we must learn as well. You will find the Lord to be everything you need. He provides in ways that you could have never imagined and feeds the heart and soul in ways that refresh and revive you.
Alan Redpath, in his book The Making of a Man of God, describes what happened when David, the man after God's own heart, learned to look to the Lord —
Observe how David left the treachery of his supposed friends with the One who is sufficient to deal with them (Psalm 54:7). He is now looking at God. First he was looking at his enemies and these supposed friends of his, but now he sees them through God. If you begin with God, your enemies grow small. If you begin with the enemy, you may never reach God. If you begin with Him, the problems begin to dwindle.
Alan Redpath in The Making of a Man of God
David had a moment when he realized that God was with him and would help him. And Jacob had his eye-opening moment as well. You and I need to realize God's presence in our life and look to Him in every situation.
When Jacob's vision was filled with the Lord, Jacob heard the promise that God was with him and would keep him wherever he traveled in life. And that's a promise for you to rest in today. The Lord is with you dear friend and will keep you wherever you go.
So today, dear friend, look to the Lord, and rest in His promise.
Dear Lord, today we are looking to You and trusting You to provide everything we need. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Blessings ♡ Grace
