Sunlight Through the Trees

I have a very vivid memory of elementary art class. I must have been around six or seven years old. We were tasked with drawing a nature scene or landscape and then coloring it with crayons. Now reminiscing, I realize we must have been learning about point of view in art. Drawing is not my forte, and I suspect I have issues with spatial awareness and depth perception as well. 

In my head, I pictured beautiful rays of sunlight shining through a canopy of trees, as if I were on a forest floor looking up into the sky. The sun dotted the mix of sky and tree tops with golden flecks. It was a sparkling, glorious image.

However, I greatly struggled to put that image onto my blank sheet of white paper. I drew the forest and tree tops and neatly colored those in. But when it came to the radiant sunlight shining through … let’s just say, it ended up being literal stripes of green and yellow—not even close to the likeness in my mind.

I was frustrated and that might have been the moment my dreams of becoming a famous artist were crushed, never to resurface again—until I discovered my love of scrapbooking, journaling and decorating in my late twenties—because not all art is hung on gallery walls.

Life can be like that failed art project. We have expectations in our mind of how things should go or how life should be, and we get frustrated when we put in the effort, only to end up with a striped forest—something we weren’t imagining at all. Not even remotely close. 

What are we to do when our expectations turn out to be completely different from the result?

Perhaps the same lesson of point of view from elementary art class applies to adulthood today. Artists use point of view techniques to draw the observer in, create depth, and focus the viewer’s attention on something specific. When expectations are derailed, maybe we are looking at them from the wrong point of view—our finite human perspective—the only view we can realistically have.

The Bible says in Isaiah “‘My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,’ says the Lord. ‘And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts’” (55:8-9). God in His infinite wisdom and power has a unique viewpoint that we will never have this side of heaven.When we come face to face with unmet expectations, we need to shift our sight and focus to the One who sees it all, trusting that He is in control and has our best interests in mind. He may very well intend to draw us in, create depth within our character, or shift our focus on something specific.

The apostle Paul encourages us in Hebrews that, “We must keep our eyes on Jesus, who leads us and makes our faith complete” (12:2). That complete faith will end up being so much better than any outcome we could ever hope for or expect. 

So, when life gives us striped forests, focus on Jesus and trust His process. That sparkling, glorious image of heaven will one day be a reality.

Feel free to pray with me:

Dear Heavenly Father, I praise You that Your thoughts and ways are much higher than mine and are far beyond anything I could imagine. Help me when I face unmet expectations to fix my eyes on You, Jesus, and trust that You are in control and know what’s best for me. In Your name I pray, Amen.

Scripture: Isaiah 55:8-9 (NLT); Hebrews 12:2 (CEV)