It’s parade season! From the inflatables at Macy’s to the rose petals in Pasadena to the trailers in small towns, families will line streets to catch a glimpse of the imaginative floats (and maybe get some candy). From the Big Apple to Main Street USA, parade routes entice large crowds that can hinder the perspective of the primary audience: children. The view of a child when the mass of humanity collects on a sidewalk can be comprised of nothing more than legs and backsides. Not a perspective worth remembering. Then an arm reaches down, gathers the child, and lifts him to his shoulders. With that act, perspective changes and a world of wonder emerges!
When I consider this imagery, I find myself drawn to Psalm 62:5-8 when I need a change of perspective. I require the arm of God to sweep me from the jumbled view of the world to His “shoulders” revealing a new outlook. Disappointment and distractions often multiply in the midst of the celebrations of Christmas, I need God's perspective.
· “My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him” – When I place expectation on another, I will be disappointed. Holidays intensify the expectation increasing the disappointment. My soul, wait silently for God ALONE.
· “He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved.” – As I child, I watched commercials featuring “crash dummies” that would ride in cars that were being hurled toward a solid wall to demonstrate the devastation to both car and persons in a wreck. In the midst of the chaos of shattering glass, mangled metal and “dummies” bouncing defenselessly in the car, I observed one important facet: the wall never moved. Life can feel like. God is our rock and, through Him, we are not moved.
· “In God is my salvation and my glory; the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.” – The rock and refuge in this verse portray an image of a high, secure place: God’s “shoulders.” This is the place of perspective that results from the security of the salvation that His Son, Jesus Christ, has purchased on our behalf on the cross.
· “Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.” – That secure place, where God places us, provides the only sure foundation for our trust. When the pain of broken relationships, human failings, and our own brokenness overwhelms us, God says, “Pour it out on Me!”
· “Selah” – This small word observed frequently in the Psalms asks us to pause and ponder the depth of what we just read. Pause, and then carry these Truths through this season.
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