View From The Balcony

Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?

John 14:1-2

Whenever our family goes on vacation and stays in a hotel, my biggest request is for a room with a balcony. My husband and daughter are night owls and love to sleep in the next morning, but no matter what time I’ve gone to bed, I am up early. I feel cheated out of the day if I miss the few fresh hours of morning. A balcony is a place where I can pop outside to greet the day, see God’s handiwork, and enjoy the fresh air while my family is still sleeping.

As I write this, I am on vacation, enjoying the cool breeze from our twelfth-floor balcony—which overlooks a parking lot. I don’t mind it. You see, if I train my eyes to look far beyond the parking lot, I actually see a harbor with ships, sailboats, and float planes, and beyond that, I see the mountains rising so firm and stately against the endless blue sky that it takes my breath away. “Thank You,” I say to God aloud, “for giving us so much to enjoy in creation.” All this beauty pales in comparison to what He has planned for us to enjoy in heaven.

It dawned on me (pun intended) that I could easily look down and focus on the parking lot below me. It’s easy to live our lives in the parking lot and not in the eternal. But why would we want to miss God’s best? Let’s look beyond our crowded-parking-lot circumstances and see Jesus.

Enjoy all God has made for us! Make a list of five things—for example, clouds, an evergreen, a child’s smile—that you don’t normally take time to notice throughout your day. Thank God for these gifts.