Today’s Devotional: Eyes of the Kingdom
Do you find it easy or hard to see God’s kingdom in your everyday life?
In this devotional from A Slice of Infinity, Jill Caratinni writes about the British poet, Francis Thompson. Thompson was the definition of a tortured artist: brilliantly talented and tragically self-destructive. His personal struggles with opium often resulted in homelessness; however, Caratinni argues that in his poetry we find a man in touch with God much in the same way the prophet Isaiah was.
Thompson, like Isaiah, urges us to see the world with the “eyes of the kingdom,” to see God as not a distant being, but as present in our daily lives:
Both Thompson and Isaiah use the power of image and metaphor to bid us to look again and again, and learn to live as eyes of the kingdom. While it is true that God sometimes comes down and unmistakably transforms time and place, other times we fail to see the sacred in our midst simply because we do not want to see anything subtle. We pass over what God has extended, whether a sign of grace, a moment of transcendence, or a richer lifetime of seeing his presence. And we ironically miss the images of God all around us within a world that is made in God’s image. As the unlikely poet laments:
But (when so sad thou canst not sadder)
Cry—and upon thy so sore loss
Shall shine the traffic of Jacob’s ladder
Pitched betwixt Heaven and Charing Cross.
Yea, in the night, my Soul, my daughter,
Cry—clinging to Heaven by the hems;
And lo, Christ walking on the water,
Not of Genesareth, but Thames!
Read the rest of the devotional at A Slice of Infinity.
How does knowing that God is near to you change how you view the world?
I am in Tiberius, stuck here for a month now (It’s not bad) and after consideration it is exactly where GOD wants me to be. Oh worry will assault me for a moment, but as soon as I realize what a insult that is to my Father I throw it in the trash, and pray what I could do, should do, and reflect on how blessed I am. GOD is on the throne.
God is so present in our lives, if only we are still enough to listen to Him. If only we desire His presence. On Tuesday, my eldest son and family were told they were homeless. On my way from work, I stopped at Salvation Army. I just wanted to unwind, and seek answers from them. When leaving, a woman approached the store, but the clerk was locking the door behind me. The clerk said, “we are closed. Come back tomorrow.” The approaching lady became a little annoyed, but held her peace. I started toward her saying, “you will be probably be blessed more tomorrow.” She said,”I was just trying to buy something to bless someone else.” I said, “God sees your heart,” and as I went toward her, I decided to share my son’s story. As I was telling her my prayer request,she stated, “you’re Tom’s mom aren’t you?” You see, God sent a prayer warrior, whom I had not seen in over 25 years to pray again for my son, who was in troubled waters. Years past, she had cried out to God, on his behalf,when as a teenager he had fallen into trouble. I KNEW that God had his back. You see, he finally gave his whole life to God. God promises that He is always with us! “In this world, you WILL have tribulation, but be of good cheer”…He overcame and is still in the business of overcoming! I view the world as a world that needs to continue praying.