We’ve had a lot of dreary days lately. The sky has been gray and the rain has been nonstop. I was feeling depressed and needed some light, so I went outside. I have to say that there wasn’t much light to be found out there. Everything looked so brown and, well … dead.
I looked around at the gray clouds and the droopy, brown plants and I felt myself growing even more depressed.
I wondered why God had created such a melancholy season.
PC: Ann Kirsten
As quick as that question entered my mind, it was replaced by the reality that God doesn’t make mistakes. Were my surroundings really so awful, or was I just focusing on the wrong things?
It’s easy to get dragged into negativity. It starts with one bad thought and before you know it, all of life seems pointless and ugly. (I wrote about it here: Emotional Snowballs. When My Emotions Get the Best of Me).
“Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you. Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.” 1 Peter 5:7-9
I needed this reminder. It was silly of me to find excuses for my negativity in the stark surroundings. The devil was prowling around and whispering in my ear, “Look how ugly everything is, nothing really matters.”
“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” Proverbs 23:7
In this case, this verse reminded me that if I thought of life as ugly, it would be ugly. I decided to head back outside and look around with fresh eyes. Could I switch my thinking and see beauty instead?
It turns out that I could. When I looked closer with a new perspective, I found beauty and new life everywhere.
Miniature daffodils had popped out from under my hibernating hydrangeas. Their buds were bursting, just getting ready to bloom. I would have missed them if I hadn’t gone out again.
PC: Ann Kirsten
A further ramble took me out to where my hellebores were in full bloom. Their deep magenta color made them hard to see at first.
PC: Ann Kirsten
A pot in the backyard had filled with a beautiful moss/succulent mix without any help from me.
PC: Ann Kirsten
My blueberry bushes looked dead from a distance, but when I looked closer, buds were forming on all the branches.
PC: Ann Kirsten
In the corner of a raised bed, under a dead leaf, crocuses were croaking (as my husband likes to say). They are so tiny and their blooming time is so short that I almost missed them.
PC: Ann Kirsten
“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.” Isaiah 26:3
I should have trusted that life would bloom again. It always has. I’ve been through more “winters” than I can count and spring has always returned. Sometimes, it has looked different than I thought it would. Sometimes, I had to search for it in the midst of dark conditions and often it was hiding under a pile of ugly things, but it came nonetheless.
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8
As I walked around my yard with fresh eyes, I not only found hidden beauty, I found beauty in the ugly too. The gnarled trunk of a grape vine, the skeleton of a hydrangea blossom, and the fallen leaves from my oak tree all suddenly seemed beautiful to me. They told stories of a former life, stories that made me smile.
PC: Ann Kirsten
There is a verse that I have changed slightly from the original (Psalm 118:24). I end my prayers with it. I say, “This is the day that the Lord has made; HELP ME rejoice and be glad in it.”
I know that sometimes I forget to focus on the beauty that belongs solely to God. When my human eyes can’t find beauty anywhere, I need to switch my focus. Once I focus on Him, the world is full of more loveliness than I can handle.
PC: Ann Kirsten
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Read more of Ann’s contributions to AllMomDoes here.
