MUDDLE

On some evenings, the moon is particularly radiant in our neck of the woods.  Last night the sky was completely clear, not a cloud.  The moon was spectacular.  While looking at the moon, I couldn’t help but be in complete awe and wonder.  Trying to wrap my brain around God’s outrageous creation held me in awe.  I wondered that a God that created such a spectacular creation created and loves me.  Even me.

Walking this morning in the dark I again was struck in awe and wonder.  There’s this mud puddle in the field across from ours. In that mud puddle I saw the reflection of the moon.  Gorgeous.  It was crazy, I could see two moons.  One bright and brilliant in the sky and one bright and brilliant in the puddle, but wait – the one in the puddle is out of focus – in focus – out of focus – in focus, you get it.  What’s going on?  While watching the puddle I noticed the ever so gentle breeze, almost imperceptible, moving the water causing the moon to lose its sharpness.  The moon in the puddle was crispless.

This reminded me of my relationship with God.  When things are going well, He is perfectly clear.  Peace?  When I study His Word, He is perfectly clear.  When I snuggle up to Him and cleave to Him, He is perfectly clear.  But you know, like the wind, it only takes the very slightest movement to knock Him out of focus for me.  The gentle breeze of an argument with a loved one, an overdue bill, car issues, kid issues, animal issues, health issues, job issues, sin issues, etc. issues, all cause ripples in the puddle and distort our vision.

Like the moon in the sky, God is always perfectly clear.  Like the moon in the puddle, life encourages us to lose our focus.  But we have great hope!  Jesus came to bring our lives into focus.  The prophesy of Isaiah in Chapter 42 tells us of that promise.  It tells us of that Jesus.

Look at my servant, whom, I strengthen.  He is my chosen one, and I am pleased with him.  I have put my Spirit upon him…To open blind eyes.  To bring out prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.

He came to open our blind eyes and show us how to see clearly.  He can do for us what he did for the Disciples on their way to Emmaus.  Suddenly, their eyes were opened and they recognized Him.  Suddenly, everything came into focus.  Suddenly, the Disciples could see Jesus for what He was.  Suddenly, the ripples stopped.  Suddenly, everything came back into focus.  Suddenly.

Suddenly can happen to me too.  I can regain focus by feeding on His Word, eating the bread of life, and drinking the cup.  By taking Him in.  By refocusing.  By persisting in His presence.  By talking to the man in the moon.