Don't miss the experience - Psalm 89:15-16 with a story (from "Zorba the Greek"), an observation and a prayer

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 89:15,16
"Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! They walk, O Lord, in the light of Your countenance. In Your name they rejoice all day long, And in Your righteousness they are exalted."

A STORY:
In his novel, ZORBA THE GREEK, Nikos Kazantzakis has the narrator say, “I was happy, I knew that. While experiencing happiness, we have difficulty in being conscious of it. Only when the happiness is past and we look back on it, do we suddenly realize – sometimes with astonishment – how happy we had been.”

AN OBSERVATION:
“It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” Thus, begins THE TALE OF TWO CITIES by Charles Dickens … our life?!? Don’t miss the scenery because of the task of the journey.

The “best” will be determined by our focus. Their concentration is on the Lord. Regardless of the “worst” taking place around them, they seldom – if ever – pay much attention to it because of the light of God’s presence.

A father got permission to go into surgery with his young son because the doctor had overheard the lad say, “Daddy, as long as you are holding my hand I will be okay.” The surgeon want his young patient to experience of his daddy holding his hand as he went to sleep and the experience of his daddy holding his hand as he began to wake up from the surgeon. “His daddy’s hand did more good that day than me and my entire medical staff.”

It was the best of times … but all too often we do not fully appreciate it until it is all over.

PRAYER:
Help us, O Lord, not to miss the experience while we are going through it. Amen.