Choose Your Focus
In many ways Puerto Rico is a land of amazing contrasts. Much of it is a tropical paradise, with lush greenery and beautiful flowers, but there are also dry, somewhat arid areas, with cacti. Luxurious resorts stand next to abandoned buildings. Wealthy neighborhoods are just blocks from areas of abject poverty. Beautiful beaches are marred by discarded trash.
It would be easy to see only Puerto Rico’s defects, if that is where we focused, but that is hard to do when you round a corner to another majestic view or when an ocean breeze touches your face. There is so much beauty to be found there, it seems foolish to concentrate on the things which have gone wrong.
Life is a lot like that. Days of unbridled joy are sometimes followed by setbacks and grief. Once healthy relationships can fall apart due to betrayal or neglect. Health can give way to sickness Prosperity for one may result in poverty for another. Yet, just like in Puerto Rico, beauty can be found, even in darkness, if our eyes and hearts are open to them.
“The world, though fallen, is not all sorrow and misery. In nature itself are messages of hope and comfort. There are flowers upon the thistles, and the thorns are covered with roses… ‘God is love’ is written upon every opening bud, upon every spire of springing grass. The lovely birds making the air vocal with their happy songs, the delicately tinted flowers in their perfection perfuming the air, the lofty trees of the forest with their rich foliage of living green – all testify to the tender, fatherly care of our God and to His desire to make His children happy.” (Steps to Christ, pp. 9-10)
Today, when tempted to concentrate on all the problems in your life, ask God to open your eyes and ears to the evidences of His love that are all around you – the song of a bird in the tree, the warmth of the sun on your face, the smile of a friend at the end of a hard day. Everyday, in myriads of ways God is letting you know you are His and you are loved.
Life is full of contrasts, even in tropical paradises, but we get to choose where we focus. Today,
“Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.”