Today’s reflection is from Annie Schmidt. Annie serves with our OC team, working directly with our internship program, and is a member of the year-round team.
Today’s Reading: Psalm 19
One of the privileges of living at camp is I get to watch a beautiful sunset almost every day.
Just a few days ago I was outside again watching this beautiful sunset over the lake. And this verse came to my mind:
‘The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.’ Psalm 19:1-6
Isn’t that beautiful that the whole creation is giving glory to God? Every Day. The sun rises and the sun sets. And God paints the sky in red, orange and yellow. His creation is proclaiming His glory.
Not only did I watch the sunset, but I also listened to the birds, who just kept on singing.
And it made me think. What does a bird do all day long? Search for food and sit in a tree and sing. They don’t worry about what they are going to eat the next day. They just take every day as it is and they go about and they always find enough food. Because our heavenly Father feeds them (see Matthew 6:26). So because they don’t worry they have a lot of time to sing. They sit in the tree and praise God with their voices. Did you know that they even sing in the morning when it is still dark outside? The most beautiful thing I do when I can’t sleep sometimes, I listen to the birds. And even when the night is still dark, there is a bird lifting up his voice to God. Because it knows the day is coming. It knows the night will end and the sun will shine again. It has hope that God will bring forth the sun again. So it sings praises to Him while the night is still dark.
I am super challenged by that.
Because it is the hardest thing to do. Sing praises to God while life is hard, while life seems so uncertain, while life brings so much grief. And we can’t see the light at the end of the night. I get caught up in my worries so easily. And my mind just thinks about all the negative things. But today I choose to learn from the birds and lift my eyes up to God, my provider and healer. And give him praise. Because I know He will bring the sun back into my life.
There is a beautiful song I’m listening to all the time at the moment: Praise before my breakthrough
It is so true.
We have to sing before our breakthrough until our song becomes our triumph. Because God deserves our praise no matter our circumstances. And praising God can heal our anxious heart.
So will you make the decision with me today to choose praise before anxiety, to give glory to God rather than to worry, to lift our eyes up to God rather than focusing on our circumstances?
In Him, Annie
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