Saturday, September 7, 2013

Peace in the Front



I'm leaving you well and whole.  
That's my parting gift to you.  
Peace.  
I don't leave you the way you're used to being left - feeling abandoned, bereft.  
So don't be upset. 
 Don't be distraught.
John 14:27  (The Message)


I love this picture, this scene. 
I don't know how it came to look this way - like a mirage - but look this way, it does.  
I think it's a God thing.  
Let me tell you why.

It looks like the world to me.
The world of steel and machines.  Of power lines, and construction.  Of pipes.
Do you see it?  The world of man?
And then, in the foreground, in focus, the trees - green and lush, foliage of summer - and the ocean, God's creation on the third day.  God's world.

And I think about being in this world,  
and how distractingly the world pulls on us and tugs at us, insists on our attention.
And how it threatens, sometimes, to overcome.
Has it threatened you?

But God sent his Son to save the world.
And we were chosen out of the world.
And everyone born of God overcomes the world.
And know this.
Jesus gave us his peace.

So I love this picture.
It puts the world, kind of beautiful in its way, into the background.  
And it focuses on God.

God in Heaven, thank you for the promise of your Kingdom.  
Thank you for your Son, the Prince of Peace.  
Thank you for this reminder of where 
my focus should always stay.

Linking with Still Saturday

6 comments:

  1. Visiting from Still Saturday. I see the beauty in this photo, too - hustle and bustle and clanging in the back, yes, the calm peace in the front. I love to see this, an ordinary photo with powerful meaning. Thank you!

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    1. Hi Maureen,
      Thank you for visiting. That's exactly it - hustle and bustle with calm peace. I actually made this my desktop picture - to kind of remind me...
      Janet

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  2. It's a great photo, but also a good reminder of Who is Bigger than the world that is floating, flying around us all the time. Relying on HIM, trusting HIM is what counts, now and forever.

    Thank you.

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    1. CaryJo,
      Yup! I totally agree - that's probably why I like it so much! Our God is amazing! Thanks for stopping by...
      Janet

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  3. This is a beautiful photo and I love how you make me look at it differently through the words you shared. It's nice to *meet* you Janet. Thank you for your recent visit to my place. Thank you to your husband for his service and to you for how you support him. Both my husband and my son are currently serving. I'm always grateful for new connection especially since being a military family is still quite new to us. So again, thank you for stopping in and sharing. Many blessings to you.

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    1. Hi Beth,
      And thank you to your men and their service. I know it isn't always easy, but I'm so proud of my husband and the values he represents and believes, as I'm sure you are your husband and son. I actually met and married my husband during a break-in-service for him - so the military life is somewhat new to me as well. I am always available if you need a distant 'ear'; sometimes it's nice just to have someone listen. I'm glad you stopped by!
      Janet

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I know we probably haven't met in person, but I believe that the sharing of our ideas and thoughts, sometimes our hearts and souls, makes us more than strangers. I would like to say friends. Thank you for taking the time to contribute to my little space - I appreciate you.