A New View

 There are days that come when all can look cloudy and dreary and rainy. We grow sad, apathetic, and depressed. How do we snap out of that place in order to get a new perspective on our outlook? I believe the answer is to “change our view “! We can choose to stand and gaze out at all of the dark and dreary things that currently may be taking place in our lives or we can choose to push back the curtains of darkness and allow the light and love that are present, even when we can’t see it, to come in and penetrate the darkness . It sounds so simple, you say, but easier said than done. Yes, it does take effort. It does take stepping out of our darkest places and times and making the choice to do it differently. How? Small steps make for big changes I’m thinking. Let me share my story and current situation if I may. It may help to relate to what I’m saying. 

A short time ago My dear husband of nearly 50 Years starting exhibiting signs of physical decline and it began to worry me a bit. Then he took a fall and broke some bones which in turn required surgery. He’s hold up in our house now with a cast on his arm and a faraway look in his eyes that tells me he is struggling to find the hope in things. I have been attending to his every need and taxiing him to Dr. Visits and physical therapy appointments and the dark cloud that rested over his head now has taken up residence above mine. In the middle of it all we were told that we would have to move from the house we’ve been renting because it was being sold and we would only have 30 days or so to accomplish it all. Well, I don’t know about you but if you’ve been married for any length of time you know that you can accumulate things. And that was true to a great extent in our case. Our three children and their families have been wonderful and have come alongside us to help us to downsize and make choices in our later years here. To say that this journey of late has been very very hard is quite an understatement. There have been tears there have been angry moments and there have been amazingly good ones as well. Our family, our church family and our friends have shown us love beyond measure. Now here is where my advice on changing your view comes into play. My husband and I have been offered a place to live in my daughter and son in laws home. That gesture alone is chocked full of love and care and honoring that is hard to comprehend. Nonetheless, we are getting ready to change our view, literally. Through all of our dark clouded moments God placed different loved ones at different times to pull back the curtains and let the light in for us. They have held our hands, held our arms up, prayed and encouraged us all along the road. And I am here to tell you that those curtains were very heavy and hard to push back but they were pushed back and now the light is streaming in and the hope lights up our whole room.

In the process of all the darkness and change, when those curtains were pushed back and change came the light came with the change. If we had chosen to look out on the gloom of it all and no one ever pushed back the curtains then we would still be standing in the shadow of hopelessness and dread. But change brought about the joy. Now, here’s another thing to “tweek” your thinking. Every bit of that darkness that settled in over us I believe was ordained, orchestrated with purpose to accomplish something. That’s right! Even those dark moments that seemingly cloud out anything “hope filled”are happening in order to do something in us. It’s true!

Look at this and remember . . . . 

The veil was the heavy curtain in the Temple at Jerusalem which was torn when Jesus died. Matthew 27:51 says, "Behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the Rocks rent. 

The darkest day on the face of this earth yet there was a curtain that would be drawn back, in fact this one was torn in two. It was a darkness like no other, a sadness that couldn’t be equaled yet there was a curtain, a curtain that was torn in two in order for the light to be revealed. Every bit of it , every tear, every agonizing moment was ordained and served a purpose far greater than we could possibly comprehend. The darkness mattered. It was a precursor to the light of hope that Jesus was giving his life to bring. 

My situation pales in the shadow of this story but it’s still very sugnificant in the eyes of my Father. It’s meant to make me stronger and exhibits the extraordinary love that he has for me. And all it took was for me to change my view! Spring is upon us, the Winter of our season of hopelessness is over but only if you choose to let in the light! 

One last note: Theses a line in an older song called “Remind Me” that says, “roll back the curtains of memories now and then, show me where you brought me from and where I would have been”. 

Ask God to remind you today of where you could have been or could be if your curtain was rolled back. Maybe, just maybe you need to change your view! There’s always light when the curtains are pushed back.