UNEXPECTED
Deadbolt snap, front door swoosh, screen door scringe and I step out to cross the porch and down the stairs, to waiting car and off to work. But on this cold, dark mid-October morn, as orange light slips between the railing slats and dissolves unnoticed to black below, I'm stopped in my routine by beauty unexpected. Shyly in the dark, between proud pickets a small red rose floats within the void. She?s waiting patiently to open to promised coming sun, felt before but never seen. Unexpected beauty. To take a stand, in the light, amidst the dark. Against the fall? to shine. But I, cocooned in my routine, must miss the moment. She will open alone, with no one to see, but her Creator, the saints and all the hosts of heaven shouting out His name. I move on?
How often do you allow God to stop you in your tracks with a beauty, unexpected?
After the Lord captured my attention with that glowing rose, I listened for what He had to say to me through that moment all the way to work. Over the next few days, as I wrote this poem from what I heard, these themes emerged.
Beauty Unexpected - How many of the beautiful messages that God has for me each day do I miss because I do not take the time to look? How often do I fail to see, because I do not walk expectantly, assuming that He is speaking to me through the world around me? I do not "ascribe to Him the glory due His name" (Psalm 29:2) for such beauty as that soon-to-blossom little rose. How often do I miss this beauty in the people around me, the people I lead in my organization or simply walk by in my rushing routine? "Today Lord, help me to see and respond to what you show me."
Take A Stand - As I relived the memory of that rose taking a stand, in the light, against the dark, I was humbled and encouraged. I saw the power of innocence, standing up, with eyes on Jesus. I pictured a young girl standing in a pool of light with her face lifted up looking at the face of Jesus. What a contrast to her surroundings. She was standing in the midst of a crowd of people cowered by their culture, their heads bowed in the grays and dark shadows of the world they had succumbed to. "Lord today, show me the people around me who are taking a stand, with their eyes on you. Prompt me to encourage them and bless them for their courage and witness."
I pray that you, my Leadership Institute friends, will expect His voice, see the unexpected beauty, and in growing measure, encourage the "standing-ones" around you.
You can read more inspiring poems, backstories, and devotionals in Kirk's book, The Grace of Rain. Available on Amazon.com? Or find out more about Kirk and his writing at kirkmanton.com.
