Leaving the Cave for God’s Splendor
Yanking a shopping cart lose with my plastic gloved hands from the train of them stacked by the side of the store, I pushed into the grocery store prepared to hunt down my list and make a quick exit. However, I wasn’t planning on the greeting of autumn sprawling in the aisles before me. The colors seeped into my messy soul and squeezed out the worries still accosting me in this most beautiful season of the year. Bright yellows, rusty oranges, light lavenders, and brown-eyed sunflowers grinned their welcome to my favorite season of the year. My steps slowed as I drank in the beauty that washed away the tension bombarding me in throbbing news blurbs on my phone.
Here was the escape I longed for–in the grocery store. God’s beauty and peace penetrated deep into my soul in a most unusual place. My pace slowed as I rounded the vegetables making a mental note to return to this haven before leaving. On my jaunt around the store, I found the glossy rounded symbols of Autumn on sale. Two large almost perfect pumpkins. I heaved them into my basket delighted at their sight and the promise of stress relief in my favorite season. I began picturing my Fall decor throughout our home and could hardly wait to pull the boxes out from under our storage space below the stairs.
“Behold I am with you and will keep you wherever you go,” Genesis 28:15
It felt like I had been living in a cave before that excursion. In times when the world crushes us, I was not meditating on God’s word throughout the day nor listening to praise music that would have drowned out the obnoxious noises disturbing me. Our youth pastor had recently taught on David’s cave experience and how we could probably all relate during this pressing time. David was hiding from Saul who was spewing noxious threats to kill David. Instead of planning an attack on his enemy, as his friends suggested, David penned some of the most beautiful Psalms crying out to God in his distress, wondering if God was listening, and then surrendering his fears to God in trust and praise. When David had been given the opportunity to kill Saul who entered one of the caves, while Saul slept, David merely cut a strip from Saul’s outer garment to demonstrate his trust in God’s timing and his faithfulness to God’s anointed king until the Lord moved David into his rightful place.
I was more than ready to move from that dreadful cave into the light of God’s promises with the splendor of His majestic color surrounding me. I deleted a news app from my phone that was stressing me. The noise was gone and God’s word was moving into the empty spaces with songs of praise.
When I wrapped up my jaunt through the grocery aisles and had filled my basket with home necessities, I took a final pass through the hall of Autumn alive. I grabbed my camera from my purse, wondering how many people would be staring at me–only a few–and snapped photos of my new-found treasures. Now I can glance at my phone and see the serene photos of Autumn instead of being blasted with news designed to create anxiety.
From My Heart to Yours,
Janis
Linking with Blue Cotton Memory, Mary Geisen, and Inspire Me Monday
Photo at the top from Shutterstock. Rest of the photos from Janis Van Keuren
Thank you Janis for this lovely written article. Even though I have yet to experience the beauty of Fall, it showed me that it really was here and I just wasn’t seeing it because of all that is going on in my life right now. Thank you for the reminder that He is with me, no matter where I am at!! Genesis 28:15.
Dear Ceal,
The long and arduous journey you are undergoing can blind us to the joys around us. Sometimes, all we are being directed to do is to trust that God is with us through it all. But in the midst of this journey, God provides moments of rest where we might find His beauty in billowy clouds, the hugs of a friend, a dandelion growing in the grass, or cuddles from our favorite animal. He is there with us in the cave just as He was with David, whatever your cave looks like right now. Sending you comfort and love.
From My Heart to Yours,
Janis
Amen to that! I know as responsible citizens we need to know what is going on in the world….BUT enough is enough sometimes. There is knowing and keeping up with current events and then there is dwelling on them until they take over your in entire life! It is always good to find your happy place and visit there often! ( and flowers are a very happy place😉)
Love you!
Patti, I hear you! It’s been news overload that vaccilates from day to day. If you think that what you read one day is the final decision or outcome, just wait. The next day, the course has been reversed. It’s designed to keep one anxious and needing to read more, hoping to find resolution. But the news of today is created to stir turmoil and confusion in its attempt to control the country’s citizens through their emotions. It’s quite dangerous.
The only sure answer and peace, as you know, is found in God’s word which is solid truth and does not change from day to day with shifting winds.
From My Heart to Yours,
Janis
Beautiful thoughts, Janis! When society overwhelms us, look to God’s creation.
Tracy,
Thank you for dropping by! His beauty and blessings surround us each day, but sometimes we forget to notice them. I couldn’t miss the color He splashed across those aisles!
From My Heart to Yours,
Janis
Beautiful words. But though our “cave” has brought isolation from so many other people, we have been blessed mightily with all we need from the Lord. And soon, when we get all our Fall decorations are out and up it will look a lot nicer, a bit like the grocery excursion you took!
Thanks, Honey, for the many ways you bless me every day.
From My Heart to Yours,
Janis