We sat perched between the weather radar on the screen and the window sill. Peering through up to the sky, our eyes begged for snow. Our hearts leaped for joy at the littlest flurry, even though it was just that…a tiny flurry. The five year old in me right alongside of my very own 5 year old yearned for the joy of seeing snow, the joy of the anticipation, the joy of snuggling in and beholding the beauty.

We waited. We did all kinds of snow rituals. Rituals just for the sake of having fun together more than for superstition.

Pajamas worn backwards, running around the table 5 times and topping it off by flushing ice cubes down the toilet…we waited.

Then it came. All 2.5 inches put so much thrill in our hearts. We yelped and hollered. We ran around in the pitch dark to welcome the snow. Oh it was cold, but the thrill over arched any discomfort.

Commence the viewing of the winter wonderland, the beholding, the act of sitting in the present {the now} and embracing the season.

Oh we did. We were over the top: snow cream (laced with Pop rocks candy no less!), an abundance of hot chocolate and snow ball fights to boot.

It was a week for me to put everything aside and be present. With my laptop tucked away (except to view the weather radar, of course) I refrained from perusing emails and writing blogs. I refrained from planning and from doing anything above and beyond the effort of sitting present and beholding God’s awe and wonder right around me. But, I soon found out how hard sitting still can be for one who’s natural inclination is to DO. Thoughts of projects I should work on, guilt from not meeting deadlines, fear that I would loose footing threatened this peace of sitting still, being present, beholding.

Then, the very One who lavishes me with peace and prods me to keep sitting still spoke to me with His Word. Oh how I need His Words to set me straight, to refocus my priorities, to garner my beholding of His presence…

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of theLord
in the land of the living!
 Wait for the Lord;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the Lord! {Psalm 27:13-14 ESV}

In God’s Kingdom ––in His economy–– if we are simply (yet not just simple) sitting and beholding the GOODNESS, we are more successful than if we were simply “doing.” For success (defined by the Giver of Beauty) consists of living and sitting and just being who He made us to be, what He made us to do: living as worshippers of His GOODNESS. For when we immerse our heart and soul in His heart and His will and His purpose we take part in just that, His Kingdom. The everlasting Kingdom with eternal value. Our life has meaning and purpose when we sit and BEHOLD.

But, this takes a large element of trust for the system surrounding us demands doing and going and being and striving and not sitting and just beholding.

Beholding and admiring and worshiping the One who brings us to the promise land of the LIVING.

So our perspective changes. The lens is switched out. The thought processes and the wiring of our brains transform to reset our goals:

~First behold His Goodness.

~Then and only then we GO and DO and BE that goodness. 

As the weather warmed up and melted the beauty while leaving the grimy muddy film outside my window, I’m tempted to jump past that short stint of snuggling in and beholding the Beauty. The innate nature of  mine calls me to make up for lost time and to get going. On the contrast, The One ––the giver of Goodness–– calls me back to the place of beholding.

So I sit, fighting the temptation I recognize the PRIVILEGE of beholding His HOLY presence. We have the privilege of FIRST sitting and filling up on His goodness, the divine act of beholding. We then have the privilege of going, and doing and being based off of His goodness…all the more than we could offer on our own.

Where do your priorities lie? How do you feel about simply sitting and beholding?

Leave a comment…let’s chat!