It’s really easy to “see” the big things, the mountains and those great moments of life. They so stand out, so demand our attention, and often demand our exalation! The greatness of life grabs us!

Yet, I would suggest “learning to see” begins in the small places. Sometimes it’s places we just think are too insignificant. Other times it’s places to which we really need to get a little closer, take a little longer, look a little deeper.

One such place I spent some time was watching a cormorant in Everglades National Park. I must confess, cormorants are seemingly a little less desirable when you’re in the midst of many very beautiful species. Yet, when I got a little closer, took a little longer, looked a little deeper, these birds began to show some beautiful uniqueness.

One such uniqueness is their eye. It’s like an emerald in the most unlikely of places! In this place I’d long considered insignificant, there began to unfold great beauty I’d missed completely.

Oh, the mountains just scream the greatness of the Lord, likewise those great moments of life, yet, His powerful and precise hand is as close as “learning to see” Him in the things I may well have dismissed. Such it is with the case of a cormorant’s eye! A jewel of the Lord testifying to His majesty and creativeness, even in the smaller places!

The Word of God says, “¹⁶ For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.” Col 1:16.

Let me add one more scene that has really marked me about “learning to see,” especially the hand of the Lord on my life. It’s from David’s life in Psalm 3 that I also learned to look a little closer at life. Psalm 3 describes a time when David is running for his very life from the rebellion of his son, Absalom.

One night David lay down to sleep somewhere in the wilderness and when he awoke, he “looked a little deeper” at life and wrote, “⁵ I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustains me.” Ps 3:5.

During the night, David didn’t get run through with a spear or have his throat slashed! He just awoke, “for the Lord sustains me.”

I would suggest that until we learn to see the hand of the Lord in the small things of life, we’ll really miss His greatness in even the great things of life! David learned and affirmed, “³ But You, O Lord, are a shield about me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head.” Ps 3:3.

Well, I haven’t run for my life in the wilderness, but I have learned to get a little closer, take a little longer, look a little deeper.

The Lord’s greatness and power and sufficiency is absolutely all around us as we “learn to see.”