Funny how something can be right in front of you, yet you just can’t see it.
See I am doing a new thing, now it springs up; do you not perceive it? (Isaiah 43:19)
Oh, for eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart that understands.
It reminds me of looking for the mustard in the fridge and calling out: does anyone know where the mustard is?! Only to have the obvious pointed out. There it is at eye level, top shelf, right in front of you.
The question begs to be asked, how could I miss something so obvious?
We laugh because it’s common. We’ve all had this experience.
When it’s only mustard, it’s no big deal. But when it comes to questions about life; that’s when it seems like there’s a lot more at stake than just a sandwich that is missing its je ne sais quoi.
The other day while I was eating lunch some inspiration hit me. I suddenly knew what my freshly painted kitchen needed. I went to my basement and retrieved two metal wall hangings that I had taken down ages ago. I inspected them.
The colors were all wrong but surely I was artistic enough to take some of the new wall paint and transform the old wall hangings. Giving it a DIY update. Making old things new. I smiled. Yes, I was totally into this! Something I could fix, figure out and reinvent.
As I examined the pieces of artwork and moved them around, I realized something for the first time: these pieces of metalwork actually fit together and made one piece of art!
I wondered how I could have missed this obvious detail for so many years. Ironically, I had bought the art out of a collection of about half a dozen seemingly unrelated yet similar pieces, only to find out 15 years later that those 2 pieces were MEANT to fit together.
For many years these 2 pieces were hung in different rooms in my house. It wasn’t until I had taken the art off the wall for a year or two, and then later studied them with new eyes, that I was able to see the connection. The artist had designed and purposed them to work together!
I was beginning to perceive it.
In this moment I began to sense the voice of God speaking to me through this unexpected visual. I could see how the pieces of this vintage art were already fit together and purposed, years ago, before I ever realized it.
Just like God’s purposes and plans in me being refined, clarified and re-activated.
Rebuilding lost years, when I didn’t realize that all along that He was working everything together for my good, and that He had great purpose for every piece and part of my life.
Redeeming lost opportunities.
Rearranging my pieces.
Answering my questions:
What if I’d made wrong life decisions and there were life altering implications from those mistakes?
What if I’d missed the boat and I’d ended up with pieces in my life that didn’t fit together anymore?
What if I didn’t recognize the purposes of God in the various unrelated pieces of my life and I’d failed to live out my truest destiny?
What if I just can’t see the mustard bottle? Obviously worse yet, what if I am seeing it, and I don’t even recognize it because of all the other junk on the top shelf of the fridge?!
The question begs to be asked, how can I miss something so obvious, all the beauty and the purposes in life. All I can see are the things I perceive as mistakes, failures, disqualifiers and so I can’t see how the pieces fit together.
God responds to us by taking everyday moments and objects around us and speaks deeply to us through vintage art and everyday mustard bottles.
See, I am doing a new thing, now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
He’s working all things together for our good. (Rom. 8:28)
He makes all things beautiful in its time. (Eccl. 3:11)
It’s a journey of growth: eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart that understands.
Thankfully it doesn’t all rest on us. He is actually the foundation that we rest on. The plans and pieces – God knows how it all fits together, and we must wait with expectant eyes, ears and hearts, for that moment by moment revelation to break through.
Heaven invades earth in these moments when we sense the heart and voice of God in our everyday life … the moments where we gain a bit more insight and clarity … and Hope breaks through.
I invite you ask God to break into your world and give you a Hope injection, right in the middle of your everyday life! Share your discovery with someone in your world – today!