Help
Psalm 121: 1,2
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
A chapel on the side of the mountains can be found near the South Carolina and North Carolina border. It is actually the Greenville YMCA Camp; however, most everyone around knows it as Pretty Place.
We stumbled upon this unique chapel a few years ago in our search for waterfalls. Intrigued by the name, we ventured up the windy mountain road through the fog to have our breath taken away when we saw it.
Pretty Place
Lining the alter area, that looks out into the valley below, are plagues with various bible verses and sayings. Above the beautiful wooden cross is the bible verse, “I will lift up my eyes to the hills …”
I’ll never forget taking my parents to this chapel. I talked about it several times, but I finally had the opportunity a few years ago when we took my parents on a mini-vacation. This was one of our final stops, and I’m sure they didn’t know what to expect.
My dad walked into the entrance of the open-air chapel and stopped right in his tracks. The beauty and reverence of the place struck him, and he had trouble keeping his composure. After having battled quite a few things in his life and getting ready to face yet another battle, he was overwhelmed with emotion as he took a seat. Staring out into the wonder of God’s creation with the mountains and valleys in sight, he sat with God. Although no words were said out loud, none needed to pass his lips as it went straight from his heart to God.
There was no doubt – for we knew my dad met God right there in that fog filled chapel right as the sun was setting.
Start
Today is a great day to make a brand new start.
You can begin again. Right where you are.
If you don’t like where you’ve been dwelling, change the scenery.
If you don’t like the thoughts that consume you, choose to focus on something more positive.
If you don’t like the choices you’ve made in the past, make better choices from this point forward.
It’s all up to YOU! No one else can do it for you!
Choose to begin again. Put your best foot forward, whether it’s in a relationship, on your job, with your family … make the change and be the best person you can be – for yourself and for your loved ones. They are depending on you and need you in their lives.
It breaks their hearts when they see you struggling with things you’ve done to yourself. No one got you where you are today except for YOURSELF. It’s not your mama’s fault, your friend’s fault, your coworker’s fault … it’s not the person that did you wrong when you were 13 or the man down the street that looked at you wrong. It’s all on YOU.
Remember: Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% on how you react to it.
There is so much truth in that.
Audience
An audience of One.
That is all you need to concern yourself with.
The only person’s opinion that truly matters is that of God above.
Concern yourself not with other people; the naysayers of the world. As long as you are doing the absolute best that you can, hold your head up high despite what they say.
If you’ve sinned, repent to God and He will wipe the slate clean. You’re harder on yourself, I believe, than God ever would be on you. He loves you. He does not like the things that you do that are of a sinful nature, but He loves YOU.
And think on this.
There isn’t a single person you will encounter that God doesn’t love.
That’s deep, isn’t it?
Those that trespass against you, He loves them.
The ones that say hateful and hurtful things to you and about you? Yep, He loves them, too.
Even the ones that have stabbed you in the back repeated, He loves them.
I am sure it pains Him greatly when we all sin, for He has such high hopes for us and plans for our future. And I’m sure it breaks His heart when we make bad choices. He hates the sin but LOVES the sinner.
He’s longing for us to turn from our sins and come running back into His awaiting arms.
And He will not hold any of those past things against any of us, once we repent with our whole hearts. Just come clean with Him, strive to do better, and God will walk alongside you to guide your steps if you only LET HIM.
An audience of one is all you truly need to concern yourself with in this life.
