Yesterday, Lord, You gave me words from A to Z. Words that honored numerous aspects of Your countless qualities.
But there’s another way to “hallow” Your name… isn’t there, Lord? Today, You whispered: ‘Choose one and soak in it.’ The one You put before me was BEAUTY.
I love the reference cited at dictionary.reference.com: Beauty = “The quality present in a person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind.”
How and where do I see Your Beauty, Lord? How can I get a glimpse of the depth and breadth of it? So much so, that I am filled with intense pleasure and deep satisfaction?
You have given me a love (and some talent) for digital photography. I’m an amateur, to be sure. But I do enjoy “composing” a piece of “art” in the viewfinder and capturing a moment of breathtaking Beauty!
Digital technology makes taking (and keeping) the best shots that much easier. Gone are the days of film! Hoping for the best, but not knowing until I’d spent time and money waiting for my unsure outcome. Now, it’s CLICK, REVIEW, SAVE or DELETE!
So I asked You this morning: “What special moments would capture Your breathtaking Beauty, Lord? The digital shots I would never want to delete?”
Images — snapshots of Life — began to fill my mind like deja vu. Images I have seen with my own eyes. Snapshots I have experienced with my whole heart.
The Grand Canyon at sunset.
Flowers “exploding” in the desert after a rare rainfall.
A hummingbird or an eagle in flight.
Acres and acres packed with giant sunflowers, all bowing their heads before their Creator… as if in prayer.
A mother bear caring for her cubs… even when it means eating our corn! 🙂
The pets we all hold dear, whose TLC of us is Steadfast and Irrevocable.
The miracles too numerous to count that make Planet Earth the only life-filled jewel in all the known Universe.
The miracles too numerous to count that produce the intricacies and complexities of each human being… beginning with the miracle of conception.
Contagious, irrepressible, exhuberant laughter that makes the eyes water, the stomach ache and the heart lighter than air!
A house that becomes a Home when it is filled with tested, enduring, unquenchable Love.
A friend who sits close by, wordlessly… sharing our grief at a time of loss when there are no words.
A victim who becomes a Victor.
A hopeless “down and out-er” who has been freed from his or her own “brand” of demons into A LIFE RESTORED… with A STORY TO TELL that will help free others.
Courage big enough to die for someone.
Courage big enough to live for Someone.
Snapshots of Your Beauty, Lord. Beauty that is Incomparable. Unduplicatable. Immeasurable.
Beauty from The Almighty Creator of the Universe.
“In the beginning, God created…” (Genesis 1:1)
Beauty from The Giver of Every Good Gift.
“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the Word of Truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all He created.” (James 1:17-18)
Beauty from The Source of Overcoming Power.
“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.” (2 Peter 1:3)
Beauty from The One Who Meets Our Every Need.
“And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His gloriy in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)
Precious Lord: Help me truly focus my most valuable “cameras” — my eyes, my mind, my heart and my spirit — so that every snapshot of Your Beauty in my life will be forever in the “album” of my memory!
“Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always. Remember the wonders He has done…” (1 Chronicles 16:11-12a)
Your grateful “shutterbug,”
Abba’s Girl