For this week’s Worship Wednesday, we are sharing wise words about the art of looking up written by Muriel Gregory.

sun looking up at hour glass

The Art of Looking Up

by Muriel Gregory

From the moment we breathe our first to the day we breathe our last, our life is punctuated by a series of transitions. Transitioning from the womb to this world. Transitioning to school. Transforming into a teenager. Stepping into married life. Etc… Change is inevitable.

I am writing this in my parents’ home. The house I grew up in since I was 10. Naturally, my mind went on a memory trip. So much is the same and yet so much has changed. The books on the shelves are organized in the exact same order. The knick-knacks are in the same spots. The kitchen displays the same microwave and toaster.

I could let myself be fooled by the appearance that nothing has changed, but I know that it is different. I am not a child anymore, and my parents are aging. I can reminisce the past and breathe in the familiar scent, but time has made its presence known.

Time Marches On

Melancholy envelops me as I face the inevitability of future painful transitions. The clock ticking next to me burst my memory bubble. Time is restless. It continually moves forward and gains ground in our lives. 

Tic Toc. Another hour has passed, bringing with it new changes and new transitions. Fighting it is a pointless battle. 

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1 ESV)

Time is a gift from God, not a curse. Fighting it is pointless. It brings meaning to each moment and gently reminds me to be fully present because that moment will soon be gone.

a time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

a time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to break down, and a time to build up;

a time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

a time to seek, and a time to lose;

a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

a time to tear, and a time to sew;

a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

a time to love, and a time to hate;

a time for war, and a time for peace.

(Ecclesiastes 3:2-8 ESV)

A Time for All Transitions

This familiar verse describes some of the most common transitions we all experience in life. Each one of those steps has the potential to foster gratefulness in our lives or anger, resentment, sadness. 

This life is beautiful not because it is permanent but because it is ephemeral. Time is a gift from God. Transitions are better lived and accepted when looked through His lens. Our world is continuously morphing into unknowns, yet God never changes. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He is my lighthouse. The light that brings me safely home, when my ship rides some rough seas.

I love this song by Lauren Daigle. This invitation to look up, when life gets tough. Transitions in our military lives are ordinary and constant. They are our cadence. When life is too much, look up and remember that God is in control. Nothing frightens Him nor surprises Him.

Listen to Look Up Child by Lauren Daigle and remember the art of looking up!