Keep Your Perspective
West Point, Prout's Neck by Winslow Homer
The colors on the horizon draw our eyes to the ocean churning upon the rocks. As a wave crashes and leaps to the air Winslow Homer captures it mid-motion. He paints the water so life-like that you can almost feel the cold and catch the splash.
This painting juxtaposes activity with tranquility. We stand in the near present feeling the waves and the cold. But way off in the distance there are the warm colors of the horizon lining the sky in a beautiful sunset where "all is calm and all is bright." Between the rocky coast and the serene skyline sits the full ocean churning with the tides and producing waves of all sizes. Above the sunset is a cloud line and above the cloud line is clear brightness and total calm.
The scene reminds us to keep our perspective. Today we might be feeling the cold and getting wet. Tomorrow we might be coursing our way through ocean waves. But if we keep our eyes on God who walks with us daily and is with us always, we will arrive at tranquility even amidst activity. The day will come when we are above the cloud line and looking down at all activity from a new place of rest and peace.
The Bible says that we have been raised up with Christ and God has made us sit with Him in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 2:6) Our place in this life is seated with Jesus Christ in the heavenly places. We are meant to live above the cloud line, "abiding in Him" and at rest even in the middle of the ocean. This is not meant to be a future hope but a present reality. This truth is stated again in Colossians 3:1 - "If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God."
Are you hanging about in the rocks or sitting above the cloud line?