Friday night, February 13, I went to Moonlight Beach and watched the most stunningly beautiful sunset I think I've ever seen. The beach was pretty quiet since it is January, after all, so I had a nice big stretch of sand all to myself. After being there for maybe 10 minutes, a young family came walking over to my stretch of beach. They were so cute, a happily-in-love young couple with their two little kids- the boy looked about 4, and the girl looked around 18 months old. Seeing them running around chasing and kissing each other, hearing the little girl giggle with delight as she got caught chaing after the tail of another young beach-goer's kite, filled my heart with so much joy. It made me realize how that is what life is all about. It's the smallest things that make the happiest memories.
As I looked out over the ocean, so large and so clear, I felt like I could see the curve of the world; it reminded me of when I was a kid and I thought the horizon was a huge waterfall. I always wondered where all that water went. Looking out at that horizon made me feel so small. And what I can see of it is just a tiny portion of the whole earth, which is just a reflective speck of the galaxy, which is just an infinitesimal part of the universe. It's so easy to feel insignificant when I think how truly small I am;how truly small we ALL are.
And yet- God still chose to give me life. He thought of me when He created the universe, the heavens and the earth. He knit me together in my mother's womb, bestowing me with the greatest gift known to man- life, and the time to enjoy it. And above that, He created me with a purpose, a plan designed specifically for me, a destiny only I can fulfill. He did not entrust me with life so I can simply endure, survive, and overcome bad circumstances and painful events. No, He gave me life so I could LIVE it; He put me on earth to enjoy all the beauty it has to offer. Sometimes it can be hard to find, but tonight I am committing myself to be happy, to find beauty in every place, person, and situation- even if it takes a lot of time and patience. Tonight I am committing to LIVE this life God has entrusted to me. No man can ever know how much time he has on earth. I am determined not to waste a second more of my time here. I will no longer be satisfied with just enduring, surviving, overcoming-EXISTING. God created me for so much more than that. I will not settle for mediocre. I will not let anything hold me back- not my family, my friends, or even what I feel like my own human limitations are. When I feel in my spirit that God has called me to something, I will pursue it with everything I have inside me until I see it come to pass.
Gone are the days when I was weak enough to succumb to depression and anxiety. They are dark clouds over my life I might always have to fight against. But I will fight. I will not let them rob me of the richly blessed life God has given me. Gone are the days that I would always focus on the negative. Tonight I'm declaring that I will make myself focus on the good in life, even when it's hard to find- because no matter how hard I might have it, it could always be worse. When I am feeling down, I will lift others up in prayer. When I am feeling discouraged, I will encourage others. I will step outside of myself. This is it. Right here, right now- this is where my life begins. And I couldn't be more excited! :)
"The moment you take the first step towards the impossible... is the moment you bring heaven to the edge of its seat." ~Matthew Barnett
"I can never escape from Your Spirit! I can never get away from Your presence! If I go up to heaven, You are there; if I go down to the grave, You are there. If I ride the wings of the morning, if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there Your hand will guide me, and Your strength will support me... You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in Your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are Your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can't even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, You are still with me!" ~Psalm 139:7-18
"In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through Him, and nothing was created except through Him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it." ~John 1:1-5
No comments:
Post a Comment