Earth Crammed With Heaven! Seeing God in the Midst of Darker Days

Here is a wonderful quote by Elizabeth Barrett Browning:

Earth crammed with heaven, 
And every common bush a fire 
with God: 
But only he who sees,
takes off his shoes, 
The rest sit round it,
and pluck blackberries.

As quoted by Matt Lockett in the book Dream King.

The past few months might have distracted you from God’s personal presence in YOUR life. This is often the case when faced with such unicorn like events. All have made unique adjustments due to the dastardly covid19 virus. One survey amongst small business owners suggested uncertainty of what’s next was by far and away their biggest challenge.

I’m guessing this is true amongst most people today. When it’s difficult to plan even the near future, fear and worry can start to dominate our thoughts more than usual.

The other day, my two grandchildren (and their parents) came to visit when a rain storm came upon us. We looked out the window a bit forlorn because we (they) wanted to play in the sandbox I had built for them. We watched out the window feeling stuck inside. Some tears might even have fallen as the kids ages four and almost two displayed their disappointment. However, in the rain, it seemed the sun was shining in somewhere which brought some wonder and hope to a darker day.

I realized we were looking in the wrong direction and quickly put shoes on, went outside (yes, it was still raining) to walk around the other side of our home to discover a big beautiful rainbow! The squeals of delight were so fun for me—Papa at this amazing discovery in the midst of what was so much disappointment just minutes earlier.

I say all this, to remind you that through all you… all we— have been through the last few months, God has not forsaken any of us AND if you allow yourself to step into the rain; moreover into the storm, alter your perspective just a bit, you will see and hear God speaking to you. And in that moment, will you see colors? Will you take off your shoes as you recognize the presence of the Holy God there to meet you or will you miss Him distracted by the blackberries or the the storm?