“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.” Matthew 6:28-29
What if we chose to focus on what is beautiful? A newborn baby. A calf nursing from its momma. A broken down car bringing people together, fixing the problem by connecting humans. Kids laughing at what an adult says is silly, but the truth being laughter as an expression of love is never silly. A young person helping an elderly person do anything and everything. The blanket of fallen leaves that will be the fertilizer of new life. The sound and smell of rain. A train whistle piercing a foggy morning. One person showing ‘I love you’ to another person deemed ugly or broken by a broken World.
“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13
What if love is enough? Regardless of what is happening in the World. What if the incessant 24/7 news is a clanging cymbal only to build viewership cloaked in the deception of good stewardship, but really to sell advertising at a higher rate? What if we did not care about ratings, “likes,” followers, influencers (Ugh), fashion, status, the temporary things deemed so important that yield nothing but a need for next? What if, we simply, boldly and obediently choose love?
I have been writing a book that explores the What If’s of life from the perspective of what the Bible tells us. I write ‘tells us’ because we too often read the words from the Word and what it tells us without accepting, pursuing and surrendering to what God desires to teach us. After almost 60 years, I find that we are in the way of so much hope, beauty and joy but too often are a ricochet versus a receptacle.
So today, try seeing beauty. Try tuning out the noise of despair and replace with the joy of hope. I have adopted the moniker of Hope Agent, whose assignment is to be a source of hope, a source of help, a source of love, a source of truth. I invite you to join me in seeing the beauty all around us and being an agent of hope.
“God is so good
God is so good
God is so good
He’s so good to me
God, You are good
God, You are good
God, You’re so good
You’re so good to me”
God really is so good. He loves you exactly where you are. That’s enough to start the life of joyful abundance that he created you to live and to give.
You’ve got this