Seeing God When the Windshield is Dirty

Lucy Thompson here.

Life has been tough lately. Tough enough to need an extra pair of these:

Pic credit.

Seems like my (mostly) smooth driving through life has been hit by a series of boggy stretches of road and churned up byways that have left my windshield mud splattered and rearview mirrors smudged.

Times like this, sometimes God can be hard to see, if I'm being very honest. 

© Mg3141592 | Dreamstime Stock Photos & Stock Free Images

And I don't know about you, but sometimes I don't loosen my white-knuckled grip of the steering wheel as early as I should. Cos, you know...pride. Thinking I can do this all by myself... More pride... Shame. Being overwhelmed.

Sometimes there are no answers. But there is God. Surprisingly, he is enough.

There's that saying  "Sometimes God calms the storm, sometimes He lets the storm rage and calms His child." (Source unknown). 

In those moments when the wheels are churning, demands are unmet, and the view through the windshield is blurred with gobs of mud (stuff life throws at us) I sense God nudging me. Saying "hey... Be still. Sit with me for a spell. Wait."

Wait.  

I don't do waiting very well. Anyone?? Even when trying to sleep I'm more like this:

Credit: Facebook :P

But God.

 He doesn't leave us in our mess. He doesn't leave us alone. He doesn't leave us. He will never leave me. Or you.

Want to know why? 

“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him. John 3:16-18The Message (MSG)

 Because he loved. Because he gave. In spite of our messes and mishaps. In spite of our distraction by shiny things and squeaky toys. 

God loves you.
Know that.
Trust that. 

Take your gaze off the dirty windshield and look closer. Perhaps you'll see that God is sitting right next to you just waiting for your attention. :)

About Lucy:
Hi! My name is Lucy Thompson. I’m a stay-at-home mum to five precocious children and wife to the ultra-handy Dave by day and a snoop by night, stalking interesting characters through historical settings, and writing about their exploits. 

I enjoy meeting new people from all over the world and learning about the craft of writing. When I can be separated from my laptop, I’m a professional time-waster on Facebook (really!), a slave to the towering stack of books on my bedside table, or can be found hanging out with my five children. 

My home is in central Queensland, Australia where I do not ride a kangaroo to the shops, mainly because my children won’t fit

 Try my books: A Cowboy's Dare if you like full length historical romance. Or if time is shorter, Waltzing Matilda,  a novella in Barbour's Oct release.

Devotion: Goosebumps and Tears

My heart has a way of recognizing truth long before my mind catches up. I can be washing dishes, driving my car or feeding the cat, but when truth hits home inside of me, two things happen - I get goosebumps all down my arms and I find myself blubbing. (Ugly crying, in case you didn't get it.) Without fail. Every time. It doesn't matter whether it comes through a movie, music or an ad on t.v... Prod. Bumps. Crying. That's just how it works.

As a writer, I get excited when I go goosies reading something I've written simply because I know what moves me will touch my readers. Maybe not all of them, but that's okay. 

Us creative types are 'moved, to move'. Rory Noland describes this dynamic beautifully in his book The Heart of the Artist. To paraphrase... when you watch a movie, hear music or see a painting that makes you want to weep - its because the artist felt deeply about what he was creating.

So I'm learning to breathe and write those things that don't sit comfortably. Awkward things that refuse to fit into my neat theological boxes and some days leave me with more questions than answers.    

There's a song that had me undone for weeks when I first heard it. Why? Because Matt caught the heart of the Father and sang it over me. Over you. Over a broken, hurting world. Truth got hold of my insides.

I'll leave you with the song as an invitation to explore those things that give you goosies and make your eyes leak... then write them!

Dianne J. Wilson writes novels from her hometown in East London, South Africa, where she lives with her husband and three daughters. She has just signed a three book contract for a YA series, Spirit Walkers, with Pelican / Watershed.

Finding Mia is available from Amazon, Pelican / Harbourlight, Barnes & Noble and other bookstores.

Shackles is available as a free ebook from Amazon & Smashwords.