Wow, I can't believe how much time has passed since I last posted. So many things have happened. My kids are growing up, and sadly, we’ve lost some family members who have gone to be with Jesus. The first three months of this year have been filled to the brim, and then it happened... I heard a song that made me stop and reflect (you probably already know where this is going, haha!). I felt compelled to share it with the world.
I first heard this song about a week ago while my family and I were in the van, and I loved it so much that I added it to my "favorites" playlist. I hadn’t listened to it once since then, until today. After a doctor’s appointment, I went back to work and decided to play it again. It's been on repeat since 9:20 this morning. The song is "Beautiful Things" by Benson Boone. Normally, I would paste the lyrics here, but this time, you'll have to look them up for yourself.
The heart of the song is this guy pleading with God not to take the beautiful things from his life. That struck me deeply and made me reflect on all the beautiful things in my own life. I immediately thought of my wife and kids and how they make my life so beautiful.
We live in a broken, fallen world. Let me explain why I say that. If you view the world through the lens of the Bible, then you understand what I mean when I say this world is ugly. It’s sinful and fractured, making it hard to navigate at times. But thank God, this world is still painted with "Shades of Eternity." If you are a born-again child of God, you can see these "Shades of Eternity" clearly, and when you do, it's impossible not to raise your hands to heaven in gratitude for the life—and the eternal life—that He has given you.
There are a couple of lines in the song that resonate deeply:
"If everything's good and it's great, why do I sit and wait till it's gone?"
"But I'm up at night thinkin' I just might lose it all."
These lines hit hard because we sometimes hold on so tightly to the blessings God has given us. We cling to them, trying not to lose them, and in doing so, we trade the eternal for the temporary.
My prayer for myself is that starting today, God would help me appreciate the beautiful things in my life more fully and use them to bring glory to Christ alone. I pray that, when these beautiful things fade or are taken from my life, I won’t shrink in despair. Instead, by God’s mercy and grace, I will rise up and SHOUT, "THANK YOU, GOD!"
You can trust this if you are a follower of Christ: when your beautiful things are taken, more beautiful things will come in God’s perfect time. You just have to be willing to see them. And if your beautiful things have been taken away, I encourage you to pray. I pray that God will open your eyes to see the new beauty He has for you.
Right now, as I write this, my heart is full, and I’m smiling.
