Picture Perfect
I had the opportunity to take the most incredible photograph the other day, it was of my daughter, sleeping. She is extremely photogenic, she has never taken a bad picture but this was different, it was not just that it was beautiful or that it was such an organic moment, it was that I had seen this exact photograph before. I scrolled through the photo gallery in my phone knowing just where to find it. There she was, in the exact same position, picture perfect in her sonogram photo. How in the world? I was just amazed. I have seen God do some amazing things, yet He never ceases to amaze me. How ridiculously awesome! In this moment I was reminded of God’s love, His grace, His providence, His presence! I mean, how thoughtful of Him to orchestrate this moment, allowing me to recognize that pose and to capture it. Indeed, God knows how to remind us of what we have overcome, how to encourage us, and how to make a hopeless situation, picture-perfect.
I do not believe in coincidence. God is too methodical, too thoughtful, too good of a God to just let things happen in the lives of those who love Him. I can imagine that Abraham, looking back after having his son Isaac, recognized what an awesome God he served. Look how meticulous the LORD had been in planning the events of his life. And then there is Joseph, who definitely hung his head a few times during his journey but as he looked over the magnificence of the land that he ruled as second in command of Egypt, he must have thought, “Wow! What an awesome God I serve!”
Throughout scripture we see the children of God struggle through life as they purpose to do His will and, in each instance, we can see God's plan for their lives unravel, bringing them to a perfectly orchestrated moment of promise and blessing. It is never easy getting there and arriving does not mean the trials of life are over, what it means is that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is present. The LORD is always with us and He has the power to give us “beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that we might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He might be glorified” (Isa. 61:3). God has a plan. He knows the end before the beginning and in the interim, while we bite our nails and pace the room awaiting the promise, He is framing our pictures, hanging them on His wall.
God is not hanging the pictures of us stressed over our situations, He does not bother with the shots of us depressed, discouraged, or riddled with high anxiety but He hangs the pictures of us as kings and queens, joint heirs with Jesus Christ. God Almighty hangs the pictures of us crossing over the Red Sea out of Egypt, He hangs the pictures of us playing in the park with our babies, the ones we struggled to have but believed unto fruition. The LORD hangs the pictures of us overcoming that illness, defeating that addiction, gaining victory over that hardship, mending that broken relationship, those are the pictures God is hanging on His wall. They hang right next to the pictures of us helping our brothers, spreading the gospel, forgiving those who have hurt us, increasing our faith by reading His Word and constantly striving to be like Jesus.
When was the last time you took the opportunity to cherish a picture-perfect moment? Sometimes we get so caught up in this life, so distracted by all the goings on around us that we fail to recognize the vantage point we have from the other side of the Red Sea. We have not yet arrived at our destination, we still have quite the journey ahead, the best is indeed yet to come but we are not where we used to be. Take time to appreciate the view from the palace. Take time to honor and glorify the God who is so faithful, so kind, so thoughtful, and so loving that He walks with us through life’s trials. He “fills us with all joy and peace as we trust in Him, so that we may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:13).
Think of the struggles the LORD has brought you through in this life and all of His promises that were fulfilled through that struggle. Whatever your current struggle, trust God and stay in His Word. There are much more picture-perfect moments to behold.
