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Eyes on the Horizon



Wispy, purple tendrils reach gently up into deep blue sky.  Bright, pink and orange surge up over the clouds, covering them with breathtaking beauty.  The white rocking chair on our front porch creaks with the gentle back and forth motion.  A surprisingly cool breeze has whisked all the south Georgia gnats away. And the little one in my arms babbles sweetly as we share these golden sunset moments looking out across the field toward the horizon.

And I think it’s all about the gaze.  Where do our eyes look?  So much pulling our gaze  down toward the dirt beneath our grimy feet.  So many distractions grabbing at our attention.  But for this moment, my eyes are fixed on the horizon.  And my heart is fixed on heaven.

Almost every account I have read of heaven describes the colors there as unimaginable.  I look at the artistry before my in this May evening sky, and I wonder if it is just a shadow.  I can’t picture colors any brighter.  You know how it is when you have been wearing dark sunglasses all day, and you don’t realize how muted all the colors look until you take them off and the green of the grass pops and the blue of the sky dazzles you.  Maybe it will be like that.  The glasses will come off when we get to heaven.

I close my eyes, and I can see her here.  My blond haired little one in her pink, princess nightgown sitting on the front steps with me.  “Mommy, look at the sky!  The colors are sooo beautiful!” she used to exclaim in her little sing song voice.  And we would sit together and watch the sky and hold our breath at the beauty of the moment. 

And I wish I had brought my camera out to capture this moment.  The clouds are perfect tonight.  Do you know when the sky is clear the sunset isn’t nearly as beautiful?

It takes the clouds to make the reflection of light look so breathtaking and the color swoop down so boldly.

And then it hits me.

His glory.  It reflects in such deeper shades, becomes so much more visible when there are clouds in our lives to reflect it. 

Those dark and menacing clouds, those things that are hard and painful and that we want to just blow away, are completely transformed in the cascade of light when our eyes are fixed on the horizon.  When our hearts are anchored there.

The darkness becomes something riveting.   Something reflecting an ambiance of vibrant hues in the light.   Something reflecting His glory.

It draws the eye.  Toward the sun.  Toward the Son. 

And hope springs up.

When we fix our gaze on the horizon.



“Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him (us) endured the cross…”  Hebrews 12:2

“Set your mind on things above (heaven), not on earthly things.”  Colossians 3:2



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