November 16, 2020
Looking Up to See God’s Surprises
Wendy Speake
Today’s Truth
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork,
(Psalm 19:1 ESV).
Friend to Friend
I was inside at the dining room table, writing out a grocery list, as my sons played in the backyard. The sound of their laughter wafted in through open windows. It was an unseasonably warm spring day—mid-March and already ninety degrees. Summer, it seemed, had come early to Southern California.
“Mom! Mom! Mom! Mom!” the boys called. I looked up to see what was causing the commotion and couldn’t believe my eyes. Thousands of butterflies fluttered around the boys. Everywhere, as far as my eyes could see, butterflies swarmed and swirled in all directions. Immediately I ran toward my room. My first thought was to grab my phone. I needed to start a Facebook Live at once!
Halfway down the hall, I remembered I had just begun a forty-day social media fast. In addition to staying off of Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, I had decided to keep my phone in my room all day long so that I would be present and available to my family. But what was happening outside was amazing. I’d never seen anything like it in all my life. My thoughts swirled inside me as the butterflies swirled outside the window. I had a choice: share the spectacle with my online friends or soak it up with my family.
Not wanting to miss another minute, I pivoted and ran to the patio. The fluttering of butterfly wings brushed my skin. The slippery cool touch of my youngest son’s arms around my middle made it hard to breathe, or maybe it was the miracle of the moment. I caught my breath, overwhelmed.
“There is a God!” I cried out to the boys.
“Good job, God!” my oldest shouted out loud.
We locked eyes and then smiled. He’d remembered how I taught him to define praise when he was just a toddler. “Praise is telling someone what a good job they did. It’s the same with giving God praise. When you see something beautiful like a sunset or a new- born baby, simply tell Him, ‘Good job, God!’”
“Good job, God!” we shouted together.
All three boys were counting aloud, “178, 179, 180, 181, 182 . . .” I joined them in the counting, and we got to well over one thousand before the mass migration moved on. For the next few weeks, however, we saw at least twenty butterflies in any direction we looked everywhere we went throughout town. Others had captured the moment on their cameras, but I caught the moment in real life—the whole glorious display.
When you put down your phone, it's easier to lift up your eyes. And when you lift up your eyes, you see not only your family and your friends, but also the glorious display of a praiseworthy Creator. Every peach that grows in our backyard, with its thin velvet skin holding back the sweetest juice, is God’s glory just waiting to be tasted. In every stream that runs cold over smooth stones, God’s laughter can be heard. In every thunderclap, God’s creation gives Him a rousing round of applause, inviting us to do the same.
Unfortunately, as soon as the skies begin declaring God’s glory, I’m often posting a picture of it along with a time-consuming stream of hashtags: #psalm19 #theheavensdeclarethegloryofgod #praise. . . Sadly, during those sacred moments when my head is bowed over my phone, I miss seeing the setting sun transform the sky from mango to magenta as the Master Craftsman splashes heavenly hues across the canvas of heaven.
Though those first moments sincerely stun me, I am quickly distracted from the celestial service in the sky by an overwhelming urge to post it online. And though I feel joy in sharing the image with my online friends, the truth is that I experienced only a few moments of glory when I could have soaked it up for another seven minutes. In my attempt to share His glory with others, I often miss out on so much of it. I miss much when I share much.
Since I don’t want to miss out on these precious moments (with my most precious people) I purposefully practice these screen time sabbaticals multiple times throughout the year.
Let’s Pray
Good job, God! The rocks and the sunset and the skies cry out that You are marvelous! Help me to lay down my distractions so that I might lift up my eyes and lift up my praise!
In Jesus’s Praiseworthy Name,
Amen.
Now It’s Your Turn
Do you spend hours each day looking down, and maybe feeling down too? Perhaps you’d like to look up and enjoy witnessing God’s glory on display… you’re just so distracted. What would happen if you set down your phone and shut down your laptop for 40 days?
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© 2020 by Wendy Speake. All rights reserved.
Originally published Monday, 16 November 2020.
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