Gazing Far Beyond the Horizon

Beautiful scene...and we ran across these two--a man and a sea gull-- during our summer vacation. I thought, "Who's mimicking who?" We were visiting the haunts and hollers in and around historic Nye Beach in lower downtown Newport, Oregon. It appears they're eyes are fixed on something far away, something maybe beyond the immediate horizon, perhaps a "fix" whose focal length extends beyond the limitations of thoughts to places deep within the heart? Maybe it's "bringing in close" a heart-felt longing...for man...and bird?

Do you ever feel that way? Do you find yourself emotionally reaching, reaching, reaching for someone or something you want or "need" in your daily life--but "Oh Ratz" that person, thing, or situation remains elusively beyond your best stretch?! Then, as time ticks bye your uncomfortable suspicion grows into a realization that your life, and the availability of "it," is going to stay the way it is--distant to your sweet wish!?

SO, well beyond the reach of those longing gazes, how is a person supposed to live with that growing suspicion...or that potentially consuming reality?

For the courageous--the Life Warrior--I enthusiastically recommend a two-part remedy. No, it's not a cure for the uncomfortable longings, but it offers an effective antidote for the distraction of....your "hope deferred" (Prov. 13:12 ).

First: Distinguish your life from "it" (Matt. 6: 19, 25-34). Challenge yourself to distinguish "it" from "you"--your life, your experiences, and your influence. Clearly God's purposes for you at this time do not include "IT"...even though your longings may have done a good job of persuading you otherwise. So, vigorously argue (dispute!) with your longings; remind them that no matter how you may feel about "it," your life is NOT saved by "it"---you'll never be saved by "it" (Acts 4: 12; Prov. 3: 5-6; 16: 3, 9).

Second: Fear God and focus your creative energies on today--its focus, it's demands, its challenges (Matt. 6:19-21; 7: 24-27). It's just a fact; your real purpose and effectiveness is discovered in the here and now--your "now"gradually becomes your future. We have "control" of our future in so far as we respond appropriately to what's going on right now. It's just the way life works; a practical and spiritual reality. So you wanna change your future, it's right here staring you in the face now (Prov. 16: 3,9)!

Finally, I challenge you...in the same way I daily challenge myself: "Be a Warrior..." and don't ever stop (I Cor. 16: 13, KJV)!

Dick