Life In My Father's World: Life in the Monkey Grass Jungle

In the jungle.

One of the favorite things our sweet (albeit short) Schnauzer does is “nose to the ground investigations”. Wallowing in vile smelling treasures comes in a close

second. His is a doggie life and thus he does doggie things.

His adventure today included snooping through the monkey grass jungle. My nose is situated a good five feet farther away from the ground than his and not nearly as well equipped for sniffing but, I have spotted ants, lizards, frogs, worms, and ladybugs in the area. So, I presume it was filled with exciting smells, trails and activity.

Just checking...

While I watched him (or at least the backside of him) from my towering view, there was a black-chinned hummingbird directly above him who dropped by for a quick sip from a blossom. While his sniffer was gathering frog tracks, the most beautifully attired black swallowtail butterfly glided right over his head and landed on the pickerel reed’s spiked blue blooms in the pond. The bumble bee who was trying to work over the same bloom politely moved over to share with the butterfly. Mr. Oblivious was still engrossed and engaged with his tracking expedition. He is smart enough to look up from time to time, mostly to see if I am still there. He may need a rescuer, or a teammate for a game of ball and he wants to know where to find me.

I often share little nuggets of truth I find in daily life that relate to God and His creation. Recently, a group who do not share my faith scoffed and even rebuked it. Their focus is on what they can see in science and “prove” in a lab. That’s where we differ. My focus is on creation and thus the Creator. Theirs is on what men have theorized, and mine on the truth directly from the Word of God, so they missed the Creator of the universe for the slide under the microscope.

My question for us today is where is our focus? Are we so busy and immersed in our jungles that it is all we see? Even for Christians, it is easy to become bogged down, even entangled in the things happening all around us; pain, plans, fun, fear, money, bills, life and death. It is natural to deal with each of those, but not to the exclusion of looking up to the Creator. Even our smart Schnauzer only looks down for a time, then back up to his master.

Perhaps you will join me in purposely shifting our focus from everyday life to extraordinary living for Him. Fixing our eyes on Him will

- Put earthly distractions in perspective

- Change my attitude about the trials of today

- Put my job description in the proper place

- Encourage my discouragement

- Help me see Him more and more clearly

- Show me Truth

- Make me more diligent to share the Truth

- Give me strength to press on no matter what

- Flood my heart with joy at what is to come!

Dearest Heavenly Father,

Thank You for Your creation that speaks so vividly to Who You are. Every detail of Creation shows us Your magnificence. Thank You for reminding us of Your power and presence all around us.

Help us to encourage those in our realm of influence who need to see You more closely and clearly.

Help us to keep our own eyes focused on You, and Your desire for our lives. We long to be used by You for the kingdom and trust You to give us the strength, wisdom, and courage to accomplish the tasks You set before us today.

If any of my atheist friends made it this far, know that I pray that each person reading this will lift their eyes and see God, I pray He will be evident to you in such a real way that your life will be forever changed! Consider this passage from the book of Romans. “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes…For in it the righteousness of God is revealed…For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God make it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” Romans 1:16-20

If you are still wondering if there really is a God, you might be interested in this video.

https://www.truelife.org/videos/is-there-a-god via @truelifeorg

My friends, we need Him. It’s a jungle out there. Look up – it could make all the difference in your life!