But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. – Psalm 3:3 (ESV)
In every situation, we have choices to make. Our situation can be seen as prison – sometimes we are there alone and sometimes we are there with others who are going through similar situations. Our first decision is to decide in which direction will look…
Two men looked out from prison bars,
One saw the mud, the other saw stars.
Dale Carnegie
One man saw something positive and the other saw something negative even though they were both in the same place. Each made a choice which determined how they would handle the situation. Seeing the stars gave one hope. Looking down at the mud, gave the other one despair.
Mud clings to whatever it touches and leaves its mark in every nook and cranny it can find. It contaminates everything it touches. Walking through mud hinders our progress and slows us down. Even when mud is dried, the dirt is still there, just waiting for the next downpour to make it all sticky and wet again.
Stars, on the other hand, shine brightly no matter how dark it gets. On a clear night you can see thousands of them. They are always there, even when we can’t see them in the harsh light of day or on a stormy night. Nothing can touch or destroy their brilliance. When we see them, we dream, and we wonder.
No matter what situation we are in, God doesn’t want us to look at the mud but up to the stars. There is very little we can change about mud and if we keep staring at it, we will miss the world of possibilities that is above us. God wants us to be creatures of hope no matter what situation we are in. That is why He gave us stars and made them beautiful.
There will be certain things in our lives that is beyond our control. We will get stuck in the mud of the choices others make and/or our own. Focussing on the mud will get us nowhere. There is no clarity in mud just murkiness.
The difference between mud and stars is plain to see. One weighs you down and the other one lifts you up. Mud keeps us on the ground and trapped in the moment, whereas the stars represent a thousand possibilities. There is no solution in the mud.
Knowing that there is nothing we can really change about the mud, God created something to make us lift up our heads. He knows that as soon as we look upwards, we will know that all is not lost. Stars are there for us to realise that God holds the answer to our muddy situations. Every star carries a little bit of God’s brilliance. They are the hope that He gives all of us.
Are you looking at the stars or are you looking at the mud? The choice is yours to make.
Originally published February 2019