Reframed
I was in my hotel room sitting at a desk before a work conference was to begin and the canvas hanging on the wall in front of me was so beautiful. So I took a picture of it. I noticed on my camera lens that if I cropped out the wall around it, it almost looked as if I was standing right there facing the ocean with a makeshift pergola on the beach between me and the water.
When I shared that picture on Facebook and mentioned I was looking forward to the conference, others at the conference wanted to know where I was staying because their accommodations didn't look anything like mine! In the comments below I posted the original picture I had taken so they could see it was just a picture on the wall. Turns out many of my colleagues had that same picture in their room and just hadn't recognized it.
It's not hard to frame an illusion of idyllic circumstances. Our day can be filled with chaos but find a quiet corner with beautiful surroundings, sip a cup of coffee, put a smile on your face for a selfie, post it to your socials and everyone thinks you're A-OK. Why do we do that? Aren't you thankful that God doesn't require that we come to Him with all our dirt swept under the rug? all our clutter crammed into the closet? dressed to the nine's, completely coiffed and cleaned up? God wants us to come to Him - just as we are! On our good days and especially in our bad... come to Jesus. Matthew 11:28 (NIV), Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Weary. Burdened. Stressed. Anxious. Just come. God can handle it. He sees us - and loves us. And when God steps in we can let go of what's weighing us down and receive His rest. What an exchange!
Read more devotions written by Denise Harper at Treasured Inside
https://deniseharper.blog
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