Quite often
I hear people talking about the good old days. There are songs and poems
written about when life was easier and the times were simpler.
If you ever
spend time around people who are old (like Larry Lepard) you’ll hear them
talk about the past very fondly. They describe all of their
accomplishments and how difficult it was to walk to school uphill both
ways. What you don’t often hear is all of the day-to-day struggles that
they had in their lives. You don’t hear about the muscle cramps, roads
closed due to construction, and little annoyances that kept them from getting
the job done easily.
Why is it
that when we look back at the “good old days” we gloss over all the little
things that made us struggle? I think that this is because time gives us
perspective. Sure those little things are a major pain in the butt today,
but when we look back at them five years from now we’ll barely even remember
them. Instead we’ll remember the big things that happened. We’ll
remember the first car we owned, not all the money we put into keeping the
thing running. We’ll remember the first person of the opposite sex we
kissed, not all those that thought we had cooties.
The
question this week is how often you’ve looked back at the past and found all
the ways that God worked in your life. You’ll easily remember when He put
your spouse into your life, when the kids or grandkids were born,
etc. But when you look closely at any specific day, do you see all the
small things He's done each and every day? The friend who called
right when you needed someone? The person who opened the door when your
hands were full? How about the neighbor who put your paper on the step to
keep it from getting wet in the thunderstorm?
God shows
up each and every day in our lives, and often it’s easy to overlook all the
encounters we’ve had. Now I don’t think God expects us to see every
little thing that He does in our lives, and I really don’t think He expects us
to remember them ten years from now. My suggestion to you today is to
enjoy the encounters when you do see Him in your life. Remember that
He is always there and always has been before.
