Keep Looking
I couldn’t believe
what I was seeing.
Elk!
Seven bulls.
Right off my back deck.
Just a few feet away.
Closer than those
my husband
used to call in
while he and I
were out in the woods
in the midnight hours
on a crisp fall night.
My elk loving man
could call them in so close,
I always told him
I was sure the sound
of my racing heart
would give away
our hiding spot.
But here they were,
at my new home,
right out my back door.
The next night,
about the same time
I had spotted the elk
the night before,
do you know what I did?
That’s right.
I went looking for them.
Only they weren’t there.
Just like every other night before
the night when they were.
The next night,
I looked again.
No elk.
And the next night.
No elk.
But then,
(you were just
waiting for this,
weren’t you?
You knew –
just like I did –
they would be back)
there they were –
this time, though, only three.
They haven’t been back
since I saw them then
but that hasn’t kept me
from looking
each and every night.
Who knows?
One night they may
show up again.
I’d rather look for them
and them not be there
than them be there
and I didn’t bother to look.
I think ABUNDANCE –
the word God gave me
as my “word for the year” this year,
is a lot like this.
We might not always
find what we’re looking for,
but most generally in life
we’ll see what we’re looking for.
Like the morning
I woke up
after seeing the elk
the first night.
With eyes not yet focused
and glasses not yet on,
I looked out my window
half (ok, more than half)
expecting them to be there.
And, for a spilt second,
the early morning light
hitting on a bush
had me thinking
I was seeing one –
if only for a brief moment
before I was fully awake.
Hope will do that to you.
It will have you
seeing what you
believe might be there.
Especially when,
you’ve seen it before.
ABUNDANCE
God longs to
show up in our life
in the most amazing places
and in the most abundant ways.
Even places where
we might not even expect.
Your prayers and mine,
moments of worship and praise,
these are the ways
we call Him in
so very close.
Sometimes,
we have to intentionally
place ourself
where we know
He can be found –
in a worship service,
on the pages of His Holy Word,
on our knees in prayer,
just to name a few.
But sometimes,
sometimes,
when we least expect it,
but God knows
deep in our heart
we need it most,
He will show up
in undeniable ways
that thrill our soul.
And here’s the thing;
Once we’ve seen God,
once we’ve spotted His work,
once we’ve heard His voice,
once we’ve known His touch,
once we’ve beheld His glory,
once we’ve been eyewitness to the
ABUNDANCE
of who He is and what He does,
we’ll keep looking for Him,
we’ll keep expecting Him,
we’ll keep hoping against hope
to see Him,
to spot Him,
to hear Him,
to feel Him,
to experience Him
again and again and again.
And each time we do,
the more our faith grows.
The more our faith grows
the more we can almost
see with the eyes of our heart
that which we can’t quite yet see.
Now faith is being sure
of what we hope for,
being convinced
of what we do not see.
~Hebrews 11:1
The more we live
in eager anticipation
and unwavering expectation,
the more we will see God
moving in our very midst.
I hadn’t planned on
seeing elk here,
but now that I have,
I’m going to keep
looking for them.
I don’t want
to miss
seeing them.
Once you and I have
been eyewitnesses
to the goodness
and the faithfulness
and the
ABUNDANCE
of God,
we won’t want
to miss
HIS VERY PRESENCE.
And with eyes of faith,
eyes that know
that we know that we know
who our God is
and what are God does,
and how our God shows up –
we will begin to see in our spirit
what we can’t quite yet see with our eyes.
Hope will do that for us.
It will keep us
asking,
seeking,
knocking,
belieiving.
Because just like
you and I both knew
the elk would come back,
you and I can know
without a doubt
our God will continue
to keep showing up
and showing Himself faithful
in our very midst.
It’s up to you and me,
though,
to keep looking.
~Stacy
This post is the seventh post in the ABUNDANCE series.
The first post is “Abundance”, followed by “FULLY LOVED”, “In a New Light”, “Less is More”, “Choose Life” and “Run to The Father”
