Tuesday, October 17, 2017

SUN-flower Faith-lesSONs
By Karen D’Amore

“I will keep my eyes on the Lord. With Him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”
Psalm 16:8 (NIV)

After spending much of the sun-drenched September day writing and completing yesterday’s devotional, SON-flower Faith, I set out on a lengthy run. Minutes into my run, a mysterious haze infiltrated the sky, creating an interesting phenomenon enveloping the sun. Stunningly brilliant multi-colored rings engulfed the sun with smothering effects, intermittently inhibiting its visibility. Mile after mile, as the dense haze thickened, the massive sun was eventually reduced to a mere pinhole of light.

Honestly, it was the best distracting run I’ve ever taken! I found myself so mesmerized with the theatrics surrounding the sun that I couldn’t take my eyes off it. Multiple times along my course, I stopped to capture snapshots of the breathtaking phenomenon. And when my direction of travel changed, putting my back to the sun, I’d continually glance over my shoulder to prevent missing out on the rapidly changing portraits in the sky. I instantly thought of the loyal sun-following sunflowers! No matter how visibly small the sun became, I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. Its beauty stirring within me a magnetic adoration. How fitting and timely, that this experience followed immediately on the heels of finishing SON-flower Faith!

I was stunned to learn that the haze, producing the uniquely beautiful phenomenon, was the result of drifting residual smoke from devastatingly destructive fires in distant states. The irony of something so tragic producing something so beautiful was profoundly impactful. The entire experience spurred me to consider valuable faith lessons:

·         Scripture commands us to walk by faith…not by sight. [1] Sunflowers continue to follow the sun, regardless of how visibly  small it becomes.

·         Our ability/inability to see the sun/SON…doesn’t change the reality of its/His presence.

·         Faith that sees beauty rise from the ashes stems from trusting in God’s divine purpose in ALL things.

·         When haze from tragedies such as destructive fires…or the uncertainty of a mass on the brain…distort our vision, we must keep our eyes on the Son, allowing His radiance to consume our focus!

As referenced in SON-flower Faith, sunflowers innately face and follow the source on which they’re dependent for survival: the sun! While disturbing events saturating the news or hardships disrupting our lives threaten to blur our vision and divert our focus, we must emulate the valuable lessons exhibited by sunflowers and keep our eyes fixed on that which our life depends…the SON!

GOING DEEPER:
1. What obstacles are impairing your ability to focus on the Son?
2. What additional faith lessons can you glean from characteristics of sunflowers?

FURTHER READING:

Married to Dan, Karen, a retired police officer, currently works as a Manicurist at Craig Berns Salon and as an instructor in the Cosmetology Department at WCTC. Karen also serves on the Welcoming Team at Oakwood.


[1] 2 Corinthians 5:7