The Vastness of His Blessings

by Janet Perez Eckles

A baby camel asked his mother, "Why do we have such large feet?"

A camel and her calf in a pen She turned to him. "God made us that way for a very special reason," she explained. "Our large feet are to keep us from sinking into the sand."

"Why the big eyelashes?" he asked.

"It's to protect our eyes from the sand."

"Why the big humps?"

"That is to store fat and have enough energy to go long distances in the hot desert!"

"I see!" The baby camel stretched his neck and looked up at his mother. "The large feet are to keep us from sinking into the sand, the long eyelashes are to keep the sand out of our eyes, and the humps are to store energy to travel...then what are we doing in this cage in the middle of a zoo?"

Ever feel you're locked in a cage?

I have asked the same question. Like the camel, I had all I needed to enjoy life. I had desires, dreams, wings to fly high to success. But instead, I found myself in a cage of grief and heartache. Certainly not the place I thought I belonged. At the age of 30, my eyesight closed in completely. I lost my joy, my purpose, and my freedom. Bars of gloom surrounded me.

A person in a cage Inside that cage, I longed for days gone by. Days when I could see. Days when life still held promises for tomorrow. And one night as I lay still, exhausted from fumbling in the darkness, God whispered:

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. (Isaiah 43:18)

Of course, I didn't perceive what He offered. I had been busy circling around inside my cage of self-pity. But when His whisper brushed through my soul, all changed.

God has created you for much more.

With the eyes of my heart, I saw the door to freedom. I took His hand and walked out into the liberating fresh air of His grace.

Oasis in the desert Free again, I embraced the truth that God had created me for much more. That's why my feet of confidence kept me from sinking into the sand of self-pity.
And for my journey in the desert of life, I prepared ahead, storing a healthy supply of God's wisdom and packing a good supply of gratitude.

Gratitude? Yes, because unlike the baby camel, with God's freedom we know where we belong. We have the clarity of our purpose. We trust in His plans. And with each trial,
each difficulty, each wilderness and desert, pain and heartache, we relish in His freedom to overcome hurdles, triumph over tragedy, and turn cages into the vastness of
His blessings.

What path might God be making in the desert of your life?

Seeing the best of Life,

Janet