Counting
Sometimes the way that I see things gets warped. I need a shift or adjustment to my eyesight.
Either I think I matter to much or that no one cares about me at all. Sometimes I think that whatever dramatic or tragic thing I think is happening in my life is the worst thing I've ever had to undergo and other times I think that I'm so pathetic that it doesn't matter how much pain I think I'm going through at the moment.
The problem with both of those trains of thought is that they've lost sight of the center.
It's like when you were a little child and you used to spin around and around in a circle trying to make yourself so dizzy that you would fall down. The surest way of getting dizzy the fastest was to try to look at everything at once and nothing all at the same time. Even if you closed your eyes and tried to pretend nothing was happening, eventually you would find yourself on the ground almost sick to your stomach. It was like your brain was on overload.
But if you happened to be in a contest to last the longest, well then the technique changes entirely.
First you had to pick with your eyes something big to look at. It had to be BIG enough that no matter how fast you went, you would be able to keep finding it. Even better if it was something bright or shiny.
Then as you turned around as fast as you could, you would try to look at it as long as possible. Each time you lost sight of it because you were spinning, you would whip your head around as fast as you could to look at it again. You always had to come back to that point. It was then and only then that your brain knew where it was, knew which way was up or down and it wouldn't get dizzy as quickly or to the same extent.
What Holly shared last Thursday had the same effect on my view of life.
3. God numbers the hairs on your head & the hurt in your heart.
He needs to become your focus. He is big enough to focus on. He doesn't move around like your friends that can't stand perfectly still forever. He is clear too because we have His Word to read and make sure that we don't lose sight of him when the world around us starts to get crazy.
4. Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12
The bible tells us that we are to run the race as if to win first prize. We are to run and finish strong, without stopping, without giving up.
Just like in that spinning contest as a child, you would count how many times you spun around and around.
If you didn't count then how would you know if you won?
If you didn't count how many times you looked at the big, bright and shiny spot on the playground, how would you be able prevent yourself from losing sight of your target or keep from falling down?
The answer is you couldn't.
And just like our childhood counterparts, we can't win that race without counting the days, knowing how many miles we've run and how many more we have to go. Although we are as a vapor passing before the universe, sometimes it seems we've already run a marathon (all 26.2 miles).
So stay focused.
The God of the Universe, the same God who intimately knows each cry of your heart, will stand still for you. Just focus on him.