We can be sure of many things. King Solomon said that there is nothing new under the sun, and he was famously wise for such clarity. We can be sure of death, yes; and sickness, disease, sin. Broken promises, lost love. Not so quick \u2013 we can also be sure<\/em> of life, birth, new life, and re-birth. Love. Happiness, joy, innocence, forgiveness, redemption. Salvation.<\/p>\n The good side of the ledger is longer, and more profound, than the dark side.<\/p>\n We can read those good items off the list, and we can write them. We can live them, and share them. But none of it is automatic. Sometimes the gloomy list of things in life seems written boldly, in large letters. And sometimes \u2013 too often \u2013 the cheery words and promises seem hard to read\u2026 the letters small\u2026 the words smudged.<\/p>\n But they are there. Move your eyes closer; turn up the light; focus.<\/p>\n Focus. Things like death and taxes, hard times and false friends can seem indeed like the stark, sure things in life. And sometimes the blessings and good can seem distant and obscure. Well, God promised us many things, but not always a silver platter \u2013 we are better off when we focus, concentrate, pray, seek, and find.<\/p>\n I recently \u201cdiscovered\u201d a place called Pictured Rocks on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The UP is a strange and large place that once welcomed workers who felled all its trees (it is dense forestland again) and copper (mostly removed) and iron ore (largely mined). Now it is a remote and, despite its spurts of past exploitation, a sparsely populated forestland.<\/p>\n Its soil is not pure dirt, if there be such a thing. It still has traces and veins of copper, iron, and other minerals. But just as fermentation can be a curse or a blessing in foods, so do these random minerals in the soil \u2013 not enough to mine successfully any more, and perhaps annoying to farmers \u2013 \u201credeem\u201d themselves. Along Lake Superior are sandstone cliffs, beaches, sand dunes, waterfalls, inland lakes, a deep forest, and a wild shoreline of cliffs. The minerals, exposed to the sun and air and moisture, present rainbows of copper-oranges and oxidized greens and all varieties of colors. Rust actually can be beautiful.<\/p>\n Dig a little and discover the good that lives in surprising places.<\/p>\n Yeast, wine, cheeses, black tea, penicillin, and a thousand things that \u201cturn\u201d\u2026 are transformed to good. As people, we can \u201cturn\u201d too; and even circumstances can turn to good. You know the song: tadpoles to bullfrogs; caterpillars to beautiful butterflies. Rusty rocks to unlikely rainbows.<\/p>\n Turn the pages of life if you have to. There is beauty everywhere in God\u2019s world, and treasures in His plans. Focus; you will see them.<\/p>\n
![\"painted](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mondayministry.com\/images\/painted-rocks-michigan.png?resize=601%2C450&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mondayministry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Pictured-Rocks-III-2.jpg?resize=600%2C397&ssl=1\")
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