As the wind played with my hair, I breathed in deeply embracing the sunshine and warmth of the late afternoon. Oh how beautiful it truly was. I began to pick up speed, with my windows down and sunroof open. Nothing seemed to me, at that moment, more pleasurable than than the pure delight of a summer evening drive. I was in no rush to be anywhere in particular, therefore freeing up my mind to enjoy the simple pleasures that surrounded me. It is in moments like these, that I begin to count my every day blessing and pray. And oh how truly blessed I am. No matter how big my troubles may look, they always seem to fade when you take a step back and look at the bigger picture of life. It is so easy to take the simple blessings of our everyday and look past them or dismiss them, as if they are deserved in some odd way. Like the fact that we still have our arms and leg, fingers and toes. I know this may sound absurd....but think about it. How would our lives change without them? Or how about the fact that we have food and clean water at our every whim. How drastic it would be to live without such necessities. And yet we easily forget that so many people still do live without this simple luxury. For me, when I'm driving by people who are obviously walking to work (suitcase in hand) or those waiting for a bus, I think...Thank you Lord for the blessing of my own car. Thank you for my job. Thank you for warm showers, air conditioning/heat, entertainment available at all times. And what about our families....as much as we may not always get along, how would the loss of them change your life? These simple things we often think nothing of, but the fact is, they too, are blessings. Or how about the times in our lives where we have close calls? Like when we find ourselves avoiding an accident, by simply leaving a little late for work, or early for that matter. These too are blessings. I am also thankful for is my health. I am living a life free from sickness and other deadly diseases....coincidence perhaps? Think again....It's simply the grace of God on your life. Our every breath is a gift. For our next breath is never guarunteed. So take a moment to thank the Lord for the simple blessings in your life. For we are truly blessed. Let us stop looking at our problems, but at our blessings instead. You'll be surprised how your outlook on life will change drastically, and for the better. Let us stop waiting for the Lord to do something big in our lives, in order for us to become greatful. He continues to bless us daily because He loves us, not because we deserve it.
Back to the car ride....
I began to pick up speed, with my windows down and sunroof open. Nothing seemed to me, at that moment, more pleasurable than than the pure delight of a summer evening drive. I was in no rush to be anywhere in particular, therefore freeing up my mind to enjoy the simple pleasures that surrounded me. It is in moments like these, that I begin to count my every day blessing and pray. As I began to lift up my prayer, I stretched my hand out the window feeling the pressure of the wind. I would open my hand then close my fingers, as if trying to catch the wind. It was then that I heard the Lord speak to my heart...And this is what He said. "Can you catch the wind? Even still, can you catch Me?" This hit me with force. Can a man catch the wind? And I mean truly encompass it all? For it is impossible! Sure you can catch bits of it. But never all of it. Christ is much like the wind. We've all heard the famous quote "God is like the wind, we can't see Him, but we can feel Him." This is true. We feel Him when He is in our midst. But can we capture Him in his entirety? Our lives as Christians are based upon following the life of Jesus. In Tommy Tenny's book The Extreme God Chaser, he describes a scene where a daddy would play tag with his little girl. It would start out as her full forced pursuit of him, as he would slowly pretend to run from her, barely putting forth much effort at all on his part. But soon enough the chase would reverse, he would soon be in pursuit of his little girl; in the end, capturing her in his arms, as he so longed to hold her close. This is a perfect picture of us as Christian when we pursue the Lord. He wants us to chase after Him, with a reckless abandonment. But we could never completely catch Him. And much like the story, we become the ones pursued. He catches us and wraps us in His arms with a joy and a love unsurpassable. God wants us to try and catch Him. He pours Himself out to us so we may desire more and more of Him until we set everything aside and run after him. Can we catch Him? No. Does he let us catch glimpses of Him? Yes. So we will begin to run after him in hot pursuit, only to be caught in His arms of love. Where he wants us to be. So as I finish this out, I challenge you to pursue your maker. More than that tho, do not simply walk, but run after Him. When you do this he will pour out his love on you like never before. You life will continue to be blessed beyond all you could hope or imagine. So the next time you feel the wind on your face, I pray that this word will find you and you will think of the challenge to run after the Lord with your everything, as if you were trying to catch the wind.
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