Worship Changes EverythingSample

Take another Look

I have flown a lot of miles in the past twenty years, so not surprisingly, I take many things about the experience for granted. For example, when the flight attendants give safety instructions, I find myself switching off—I’ve heard them many times before and might be able to get on the intercom and recite them myself from memory.

One particular flight was one of those long international routes that you have to prepare for. Even though I quite enjoy them, many hours in a plane can wear you down. A book to read? Check. A second book to read? Check. A movie to watch? Check. I was ready.

There was a family with a little guy of about four years old sitting behind me. I opened my book so the time would pass more swiftly. But as we thundered down the runway, lifted off, and started climbing, the little boy got very excited and said loudly, “Wow, Daddy! I can see the whole world from up here!”

That brought a smile to my lips… and I wasn’t the only one who put down what I was doing to take an-other look out the window. His exhilaration and enthusiasm over what was a new experience for him were contagious. In fact, I stopped what I was doing, to take another look. Human nature has a way of turning ‘wonderful’ into ‘ordinary’ over time, just by getting used to the environment, and we start to stop noticing the things that we used to be in awe about.. and somehow the beautiful becomes the boring.

My family and I now live on the stunning Central Coast of Australia. It is a place of both nuanced and stark beauty. I will look out at the ocean from a rocky outcropping and ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ at the beauty of the waves and shore. I will occasionally get a funny look from someone who has spent their whole life in this area. They’ll smile and thank me for reminding them to see the awesome beauty of what has be-come commonplace to them.

I want to be more and more like the little boy on the airplane, getting excited and saying for all to hear, “Take another look!”

Is it possible we too can become so comfortably blessed and familiar with the grandeur of God, with the holiness of His presence, with the consistency of His goodness in our lives, that we take also take Him for granted? Is it time we put down the distraction of all we are we are doing.. to take another look?

When is the last time you looked up at God and His creation and marveled at His beauty and kindness and power and goodness and said “Wow!”?

It’s time to look again and see just how wonderful and trustworthy He truly is! He holds us in His hands, and pulls us close to His heart, and NOTHING can separate us from His great love.