More Thoughts on HOW TO SEE . . .

Hi Friends!

First, I recent wrote an "Author by Night" column for the new Christian Fiction Online Magazine that talks about balancing "other life"and writing. So many have asked "how can you write too?" and this is my partial answer. So, for any who are interested, you can check it out at:

http://christianfictiononlinemagazine.com/brilliant_night.html

Now, some more thoughts on how to SEE . . .

I was in the seventh grade the first time I looked through a microscope at a drop of pond water. It was a required part of my science class, one that I needed to pass. I still remember my amazement at all that I could see through the microscope – a million little amoeba, paramecium, and specks of who-knew-what. The water teemed with life and activity that had been invisible to my naked eye.

Since then, I’ve come to realize that trust is a lot like that microscope. It, too, is required, and it, too, shows me what I cannot see without it. Without trust, God’s hand in my life, his workings, his glory, are all invisible to me. Instead, feelings take over - today God is good because I feel good, but tomorrow God may be not-so-good if I'm having a bad day. Today I believe He's involved in my life because it makes sense, but tomorrow I may feel He's distant because things don't go as I expect. Trust changes that - knowing that God's character and goals in my life remain constant despite my circumstances or my feelings.

So, even though God is nothing like an amoeba in a petri dish, if I want to truly see what he is up to, if I want to see Him in my life, I must look through the “microscope” of what I know to be true, however I may be feeling. Without it, I see nothing but a drop of murky pond water.

So for me, the key is knowing that God is who He says He is in the Bible, believing that He really is up to something in my life, and trusting that He knows what He's doing through all the ins and outs of what happens to me and around me. That trust that God is determined about His plan to change and perfect me, to make me into the vision He has for me, to form me into a reflection of His Son, helps me to see the beauty in the muddy waters of life.