Discouraged? Just Look Around!

The beauty of God’s creation can lift you up.

Every day, now, my body reminds me that it’s gone through 70+ years of wear and tear. Things I once did with ease, I can’t do at all any more; and some aches and pains I never knew existed when I was younger are now with me all the time. To be honest, it all gets just a little discouraging sometimes.

But I’m learning that when those discouraging thoughts try to take root in my mind, I can chase them away just by looking around. I get that from this passage in the Bible:

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork. 2 Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. — Psalms 19:1–3 (NKJV)

Each time I reflect on this psalm, it reminds me that every tree, every cloud, the sun and moon in the sky, the breeze I feel on my cheek, all of these were created by a loving God. So when I really look at them, and think about their beauty, they take my mind off whatever dreary circumstances I might be facing at the moment, and point my attention back to the One who created me so that He could pour out His love upon me.

I’m finding that even in my times of discouragement, anxiety, or fear, I can stop, look around me at God’s creation, and rejoice in His awesome power and love that are still in control of this universe and of my personal world.

And when I do that, those discouraging thoughts somehow lose their power over me.