LOOK UP! 1/20/13

WHEN WE look around us we can’t help but know that God is! Those who say ‘there is no God’ live in a fantasy world. They refuse to look around them and especially to look up. When I look up and see the white fluffy clouds with their blue background, my eyes are filled with glory. When I look up and see the storm clouds gathering and the darkened sky surrounding my view, I am being warned that a storm is on it’s way. When the skies are one color of off white, with gray, the day is gloomy, and all the signs point to possible snow. Looking up is always an adventure!


MANY years ago I received an email on a subject that always warms my soul. A portion of God’s amazing creation; “The Buzzard, the Bat, and the Bumblebee.” When I began to think about my Morning Glory blog, I was at a loss. Then I came across this email. I know you will enjoy the following, because I did.

IF YOU put a buzzard in a pen that is 6 x 8 feet and is entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of its ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of 10 to 12 feet. Without space to run, as it is habit, it will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top!

THE ORDINARY bat that flies around at night, a remarkable nimble creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash.

A BUMBLEBEE, if dropped into an open tumbler, will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom. It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself.

PEOPLE, in many ways, are like the buzzard, the bat, and the bumblebee. We struggle about with all our problems and frustrations, never realizing that all we have to do is look up! Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, but faith looks up! “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From whence does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” Psalms 121:1-2

LIVE SIMPLY, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly and trust in our God who loves us. God will never let us down. “To thee I lift up my eyes, O thou who art enthroned in the heavens! Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till His mercy is upon us.” Psalms 123:1-2

WE READ many scriptures that tells us to ‘wait upon the Lord’. Some are saying that we should wait upon the Lord as a servant. Some say that we are to stand firm as we wait for the Lord’s return. In Chapter 49 of Isaiah we read about God’s redeemer coming to restore Israel and to bring light to the Gentiles. It is the Messiah’s call and mission to all the world. Towards the end of verse 23 it says; “Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who wait for me, shall not be put to shame.”

WE ARE often impatient and in haste. God is never in a hurry. A long time passed between the promise of the Savior and His initial coming. A long time has passed between the first coming of Jesus, and His coming again is still to take place. We are to be assured that His promise is for those who wait for Him, and they will not be put to shame. God will justify their confidence for having waited.

DO YOU think we are like the buzzard, the bat and the bumblebee? Do you think we land into circumstances and feel we have no way out? We do have a way out, even though we struggle; it is through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Grab hold of His promise and stand firm. Lift up your head church; our Salvation draws near. So keep looking up, for our refuge is in Jesus Christ and nothing else.   By Jane Ann Crenshaw 1/12/13