All In How You See It
Recently we were covered in ice. It began on Sunday evening, in my part of the world, with a below freezing temperature and a misting rain. That is always a killer combination for our area. Anita was working a double shift and would be driving home in the stuff the next morning. Kevin and Amy both had to show up for work which meant they had to drive in it Monday morning. It was tense for me. Not failing to mention that Jeff was caught out in it Sunday night until a passage way was opened and he was able to get home not long before midnight. It was stressful for me and for everyone who was out in it. I was safe at home enjoying the warmth of the fireplace and no threat of having to drive on the treacherous roads.
On Monday morning I was a wreck. I was concerned about my children and my wife. Their lives were in danger and I could not help being concerned. I was concerned about my wife who had been up all night long tending to sick people, worried that driving as slow as she would have to, she might be overcome by sleep and fall asleep at the wheel. If not, perhaps she would not be as alert as she should and therefore, could not be as responsive as she might otherwise be. I was frightened.
Ice on the roads in the South is not lovely. It is terror. Watching the news reports, before daylight on Monday morning there had already been over 100 automobile accidents in our area alone. Before the day was over on Monday, that number grew by considerable numbers. Some of these were not just fender benders. There were some people who died as a result of the accidents and several who were seriously injured.
If I can have my family together without any of us having to leave the house, the ice looks different to me. I would actually enjoy it. But with any of them gone or traveling in it, to me it is terror.
I know people in the North laugh at us about snow and ice. Those people rarely even slow down in it. Schools keep right on going and life is normal. They get a lot of it and if they shut down because of a little ice, they may well be shut down for a long time. At the same time, we can laugh at them when the temperature reaches a hundred degrees plus. They do not do well in that. So, it is all in what you get used to.
Ok, let’s look at this ice picture. Your family is out on the road and we see it as terror. But, if they are safe at home and not having to travel in it, it is a winter wonderland. What a contrast! What a different view! What’s the difference? In one situation we feel terror because we do not feel safe or we do not feel that our family is safe. On the other hand, we are warm and cozy at home and everyone is safe and sound. When we feel unsafe we feel terror. When we feel safe, our terror quickly turns to a completely different view. It becomes a Winter Wonderland. It is completely all in how we see it.
Do you see it? Can you see an application here? Those of us who have a relationship with God and feel completely comfortable in His presence have no fear of life. No matter what terror comes our way, we feel safe, warm and secure. We are completely confident that nothing under heaven could harm our relationship with Him and get in the way of the promises He has made to us. We feel secure and confident. No worries will distract us from that which we need to do or become. We are totally, hopelessly in love with Him and in full trust that what He promises will come to pass. Death does not have control over us because we know that even when we die we will be with Him. So, live or die, we are His and He is ours.
On the other hand, those who do not have Him have nothing to hold to when the storms of live surround them. There is no hope except what they can work out for themselves, and it cannot reach past this life. There is no anchor to which they can hold when the storms of life rage against them. There is no deep well from which they can drink when life raises a parching thirst. There is emptiness and hopelessness. Death is a terror. There is no safety. Life, real life is without purpose.
If we can see ourselves with danger all around us while we are sitting at home in the comfort and warmth of God, it will give us a much richer view of life. All of our worries will subside. He is our light. He is our heat. He is our home. He is our shelter and our refuge from the storms of life. So, that which might terrify us will soon turn into a beautiful Winter Wonderland. It depends on where we sit and how we view it. God gives us other eyes to see. There is NO FEAR.