There's something about these mountains! They are so wild and powerful and strong. They surround me and make me feel safe and calm. They give me a sense of steadiness and security, almost as though the Creator of them is holding me in a massive hug.
To me they are evidence of God's power and creativity.
As I write this, I am looking out my window at a view that never ceases to take my breath away. I can be going about my day, with my mind on a thousand things, and yet when I look up and see these mountains I am filled with awe.
To know that the same God who created them, also created me! It stirs something inside me, a desire to worship God, to pour out love and praise to Him.
Two summers ago, there were some massive forest fires here in BC. They weren't right close to us, but the wind carried the smoke into our valley.
For days, the smoke was so thick that it hid the mountains! I remember walking by the lake and seeing nothing in front of me but a foggy grey emptiness. My eyes would strain as i stared into the direction where I knew my beautiful mountains were, but no matter how hard I looked those mountains remained hidden.
One day I was in town sitting by the lake and a group of tourists walked by. They had no idea that just beyond the smoke was a view that would take their breath away! Hidden behind the smoke was a lake and mountains, the kind that you see pictures of in magazine articles telling you about the top 10 places you must go visit!
And here these people were walking right past without a second glance!
But I knew what was behind this curtain of grey! These mountains were etched in my mind's eyes.
I found a picture on my phone that I had taken only a couple of days before, when the smoke was just beginning to cast a hint of a haze over our area. I decided to take another picture of how things looked now on this day. Such a difference!
Somewhere out there were majestic mountains framing a beautiful clear lake, and I could still thank God for them because I knew it was only a matter of time before the smoke would clear away!
For some reason this experience has got me thinking about the people around me: The ones in my life that just cross my path each day, the people I know and love, and also the people that I find difficult to deal with, or that I wish I could sometimes avoid.
I began to wonder if maybe they had beauty and treasures inside of them that I just couldn't see. That maybe their hurts, insecurities, or the walls that they had put up, were hiding the true them.
And so I started to pray and ask God to give me a glimpse of what He sees. He is able to look past our mess and see into our hearts. He begins to work in people from the inside out.
Where we see anger and harshness in a person, He looks with compassion and sees the hurts and struggles that have led them to act this way.
Where we see arrogance, He looks deep inside and sees insecurity.
Where we look at someone and see coldness or bitterness, He looks with eyes that go past that and sees a broken heart and and the fear of not being loved.
I need God to give me his eyes to see people for who they truly are, to not judge based on what I'm seeing at that moment, but to look deeper, and see that there really is treasures and gifts inside each one of us.
God wants to love us all, He wants to heal the brokenness, the fears, the addictions, the wounds that we have deep inside, the things that sometimes try to cover up who He created us to be.
My prayer is that God would give us eyes to see people the way that He does.
I love songs that put words to my prayers, and this song does just that!
Give my your eyes- Brandon Heath
Looked down from a broken sky
Traced out by the city of lights
My world from a mile high
Best seat in the house tonight
Touch down on the cold black-top
Hold on for the sudden stop
Breathe in the familiar shock of confusion and chaos
All those people going somewhere, why have I never cared
Traced out by the city of lights
My world from a mile high
Best seat in the house tonight
Touch down on the cold black-top
Hold on for the sudden stop
Breathe in the familiar shock of confusion and chaos
All those people going somewhere, why have I never cared
Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see,
Everything that I keep missing,
Give your love for humanity.
Give me your arms for the broken-hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten.
Give me Your eyes so I can see.
Give me your eyes so I can see,
Everything that I keep missing,
Give your love for humanity.
Give me your arms for the broken-hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten.
Give me Your eyes so I can see.
Step out on the busy street.
See a girl and our eyes meet.
Does her best to smile at me.
To hide what's underneath.
There's a man just to her right
Black suit and a bright red tie.
Too ashamed to tell his wife he's out of work, he's buyin time.
All those people going somewhere, why have I never cared.
See a girl and our eyes meet.
Does her best to smile at me.
To hide what's underneath.
There's a man just to her right
Black suit and a bright red tie.
Too ashamed to tell his wife he's out of work, he's buyin time.
All those people going somewhere, why have I never cared.
