A Year of Sabbaths (Week 47): Glitter

(Photo by Rachel Kirk @ www.freeimages.com*)

"Let the own days trouble be sufficient for the day." 

(Matthew 6:34b)

After some recent storms, I pointed to the beautiful sunset.  It really was beautiful . Our youngest son, Will, looked at the sunset and then looked at me laughing, "Someone must have picked up the glitter."

"Glitter" is Will's word for litter. I like it. 

"Are you saying that  because someone picked up their glitter, God gave us this sunset?" I asked.  Will nodded his head and smiled.  Will didn't need to know who had done the good deed, but he rejoiced in the result.  Will was happy in that moment for what God had done.  He saw God's blessing where I had missed it. Oh, I appreciated the beauty of the sunset. I could even appreciate the fact that God had made it happen and loved the conviction that someone had picked up their glitter.  I just didn't rejoice over it.

That sunset just wasn't on my list. 

You see, I have a twenty-year plan. I also have a ten-year plan,  five-year plan, and a one-year plan. I have a checklist for this week and a checklist for this day and the sunset wasn't on any of them.  Therefore, I kind of missed the blessing.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm a work in progress. I'm not very good in the moment and I often miss the blessing right in front of me.  However, Sabbath is one of those tools God is using to do His work.  Sabbath forces me to put my twenty-year plan on hold along with the unfinished items on my week-long list and see the blessing in the moment. Instead of my worrying about what still needs to be done this week, I can let the days worries be "sufficient for the day"  and start picking up glitter.   After all, it's there, out of place in my structured life, and I have overlooked it all week.  

So, instead of the dishes, I can pick up the ball and play catch with the boys.  Glitter. Instead of the brush pile out by the greenhouse, I can pick up a cup of lemonade and sip it with my wife as we watch the bees busy in the garden. Glitter.And maybe tonight, after the sun has set and before I settle into bed, I can lift up my head and give thanks to God for all the beautiful glitter in my life.  I am convinced that when I do, it makes God happy, it blesses others, and it causes me to rejoice precisely because it isn't on my list.

* Will is also a big fan of Christmas decorations!

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