Colossians 3:2 NLT

Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.

I am a Gen-Xer (people born between 1965 and 1980), and our generation had A LOT of cool toys. One of them is the View-Master. It was a camera-looking thing that you put little round discs with picture slides in and with each press of the lever you could see another frame of the story. It was a really fun toy. One morning as I was waking up, God was really speaking to me about that. Things happen in our lives: good things, bad things, and the everyday things that seem a little mundane. Oftentimes things happen that we have no explanation for and we think, "God, where were You when this happened?" or, "You could've stopped that and You didn't," and we start to doubt His love for us. We start to doubt His goodness. Don't do that! It will mess you up! God is always good, and He always loves you, and He is always faithful.

Romans 8:28 says He makes all things work together for good to those who love Him. I am so thankful for that promise! I want to have my View-Master ready and look to Him when I don't get it and things seem to be looking opposite of how I prayed or how I expected them to be.

One hymn says:

Turn Your eyes upon Jesus.

Look full in His wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim

In the light of His glory and grace

Another songs says:

Open the eyes of my heart, Lord

Open the eyes of my heart,

I want to see You

And still another:

The more I seek You, the more I find You

We sing many songs that remind us where our focus should be.

My brother and I used to build puzzles with my Dad when we were little. I didn't always like them because it didn't come together fast enough. I tried to make pieces fit that weren't right, and I got frustrated a lot of the time. Hard things, tragic things take place in our lives, and we just don't get it, but God has all the pieces of the puzzle, and it will be a beautiful, complete picture when it is done.

Think about this: What would a movie or story be like if none of the chapters ever had conflict, tragedy, misunderstanding, or redemption? The story wouldn't seem real because the highs and the lows are part of real life. He knows your story from beginning to the end. He is the Author. He can be trusted. He is really good at writing redemption stories! The Bible is full of them. 

I've been doing The Bible Recap, reading through the Bible in a year. The woman who does the recap videos always asks, "What was your 'God shot' for today?" In reading some of the chapters of the OT, it can be really hard to see... just sayin'. He is in and through the whole Bible, and He's in our stories, in every single chapter.

Never once did I ever walk alone,

Never once did He leave me on my own

He was with me this whole way.

What a faithful God have I

What a faithful God

The songs are really never ending about God's love and His goodness and faithfulness.

Oh no, You never let go,

Lord You never let go of me

Hebrews 13:5 says He will never leave me nor forsake me. One more great toy was a kaleidoscope - broken pieces inside the tube, but when you looked through it towards the light, the broken pieces made something beautiful to see, and as you turned it, they got more beautiful. He can take every broken piece, every shattered dream, and make it beautiful. We just have to look to Him.

Just look up - View the Master!