The past few days I’ve been reflecting a lot on where I am now and how far I’ve come since this whole journey began. To think that I’m currently living in Ecuador and will be here for the next two months is wild. Like how did I get here??
Everything I am and everything that is is because of the graciousness and kindness of God. There is so much to say about the goodness and faithfulness of our Father. He so graciously listened to every complaint and bad attitude I had in Georgia 6 months ago. He wiped every tear that fell and was consistently with me in Guatemala through grief and hardships. He revealed more of Himself and allowed me to hear His voice more clearly through prayer and His people during our time in South Africa. Still now He is strengthening my faith, preparing me for what’s next, and so much more. He has been refining me since before I even knew it, and it’s beautiful to finally be able to see the Lord so evidently working in my life.
Something the Lord has been putting on my heart is a question that I asked a friend recently, “What does it look like for you to behold His glory?” My friend’s response was similar to mine when I felt the Lord ask me to answer the same question, and that was “Huh?” Lord what does that mean? How am I supposed to behold Your glory? To behold something is to look at or gaze upon it. Glory is another word for magnificence or great beauty; or in a biblical sense: to describe the splendor, holiness, and majesty of God. Simply put…how do I focus on the beauty of God?
The beauty of God is all around us. It is displayed in His creation of the world. There are thousands of kinds of flowers and so many different shades of color and designs in the sky each day. His beauty is in the way He hears not only my prayers but your prayers too, and answers them to each person differently. His beauty can be found in forgiveness you receive from a friend when you utterly don’t deserve it. I could go on about ways in which the Lord’s beauty is all around us; but for me I find myself beholding God’s glory by looking at the sky.
Whether that be admiring the sun light up the morning sky or fade into darkness to begin the evening, or watching the stars glisten in the night sky, I see the Lord so clearly in its intricacy. I am reminded of the Lord’s faithfulness through the consistency of the sun beginning to shine every morning without fail. The way that the sun’s light covers the earth to give us warm days and how it shines still through the clouds. His splendor revealed in the way that color touches the clouds to paint an intricate design in the sky as the sun fades from view. And how the stars display what seems to be a focused splash of light, yet are actually clusters of gas and fire millions of miles away in our galaxy that are visible to the human eye. Wow. If that doesn’t tell of the Lord’s splendor I don’t know what will. It all tells of His beauty, His glory, and His power.
I encourage you to stop wherever you are right now. Whether you’re in an office or in your car, take a moment to go outside. Look up. Soak in the view of the blue sky and the warmth from the sun. Or stand in awe of the rain falling from the clouds. Acknowledge that it’s all God’s glory. Thank Him for the glory displayed in the heavens. Ask yourself the same burning question I asked myself, “What does it look like for you to behold God’s glory?” Once you figure out the answer to that question, don’t stop there. Begin to live as if you know the glory of God. Allow it to change your life, your actions, and your thoughts. Live with outstretched arms and bended knees in a posture of constant worship, because the God of everything deserves at least that and more from His children.
His love and mine,
Sadie
“Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth!
Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts!
Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!
Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.” Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it!
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness.”
Psalm 96
This heart posture has me opening my arms and saying thank you Lord for the gifts you give us. Thank you Lord for allowing us to see your beauty and to live with open hands. I don’t know why but the song by Will Reagan popped in my head while reading this. “Nothing I hold on to”.
Maybe because the way you wrote this allows me to visualize so clearly just opening my arms and reveling in His Glory.
GIRL ! THIS IS GOOD !
Sadie, I am so very thankful and praising God for what He’s done and continues to do in your life! I can see that you are trying to behold His glory every single day. You’re right…His glory is all around us if we just take the time to look! I love watching sunsets and sunrises, I just usually see more sunsets than sunrises, but the sunrises I have seen are just as awesome as the sunsets. You challenged me while we were in SA by your walk with God. I know God will use you there in Ecuador and when you get home to help others see God’s glory also.
Love you God times!
What can I say about this? You have described something so much greater than many of us never grasp. I’m so very thankful for how you have grown so close to the Lord. May God continue to reveal Himself to you and guide you during this journey. You are such a blessing to me!
Thank you for those words of wisdom.I am so blessed by them and am so very proud of you and what you have done and what you are going to be doing in the future. I’m so glad to be able to say that you are my blessing.Continue to do the Lords work and others on your team and here at home as well as around the world May know that he is Lord and may need to make an eternal decision about their lives. Love you and pray for you and your team daily, lots of times more than once.
Oh Sadie! I’m refreshed and deeply touched by your newsletter. I know I just read your words, but I can’t hear you saying these words. I love reading what the Lord is doing in your life. You are letting Him mold you into an amazing woman of God. Just an idea…you should use your entries as devotionals. This was certainly a devotional for me. Love you so much! Felice
“To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One. Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? He brings them out like an army, one after another, calling each by its name. Because of his great power and incomparable strength, not a single one is missing.
Isaiah 40:25?-?26 NLT
Ps: I also contemplated God reading your post.
Sadie you do not know me, but your grandmother asked me to pray for you at the beginning of this trip. You’ve been on my daily prayer list ever since you left. I’m so happy she asked me to pray, especially after reading this post. God’s glory is all around us! I see it when I look at a stranger in the eye and smile. Everyone is HIS creation, and He is asking us to leave the 99 and go get the one.
You know, Kay probably asked everyone she knows to pray for you…be blessed, Billy
Thank you for sharing?