Last summer Tom and I were in northern Arizona. We stayed at the Kaibab Paiute Campground and could see for 60 miles in every direction. The view was expansive and spectacular. This summer Tom and I are in a forest in southwestern Pennsylvania. We are parked in a small clearing and all I can see is a little piece of sky.
Which is better – to see everything or just to see a little piece? I thought about that this week as I sat at our table for my morning devotions. I could hear the birds and see the trees surrounding us. Everything glows green in the morning because of the light being filtered through the trees. It is beautiful and iridescent. But when we had a severe thunderstorm on Sunday, we couldn’t see anything except the clouds directly overhead and the trees twisting in the wind.
When we were parked at Kaibab Paiute Campground we could see the storms coming from miles away. Huge dark clouds, spikes of lightning, and shadows of heavy rain. But out of the hundreds of storms we saw in the distance, only a handful hit us. If you worry about strong storms, you would have spent the entire summer upset.
Dr. Robert Leahy, a psychologist who has researched worry extensively, says that 85% of the things we worry about never happen. Our view in northern Arizona bore that out. But is my little piece of sky here in Pennsylvania better? It probably won’t take my breath away the way the sky did in Arizona, but I won’t worry about storms.
I think God gives each of us a little piece of sky. We can’t see too far ahead. We can’t tell what is down the road. And this is a good thing. Matthew 6:34 tells us “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (NAS). Every day we should do the best we can for God and not worry about what the future holds.
God who loves me more than I can every understand, help me be content with my little piece of sky. May I give all my worries about the future to you. You can see forever. I can only see the moments in which I live. Help me to be present to you in each moment and leave the future in your hands. Amen.