A stranger came by the other day with an offer
that set me to thinking. He wanted to buy the old barn that sits out
by the highway. I told him right off he was crazy. He was a city type, you
could tell by his clothes, his car, his hands, and the way he talked. He said
he was driving by and saw that beautiful barn sitting out in the tall
grass and wanted to know if it was for sale I told him he had a funny idea of beauty.
Sure, it was a handsome building in its day. But
then, there’s been a lot of winters pass with their
snow and ice and howling wind The summer sun’s beat down on that
old barn till all the paint’s gone, and the wood has turned
silver gray.. Now the old building leans a good deal, looking
kind of tired Yet, that fellow called it beautiful. That set me to thinking.I walked out to the field and just stood there,
gazing at that old barn. The stranger said he planned to use
the lumber to line the walls of his den in a new country home
he’s building down the road. He said you couldn’t get paint that beautiful.
Only years of standing in the weather, bearing
the storms and scorching sun, only that can
produce beautiful barn wood. It came to me then. We’re a lot like that, you
and I. Only it’s on the inside that the beauty grows
with us. Sure we turn silver gray too… and lean a bit more
than we did when we were young and full of sap.. But the Good Lord
knows what He’s doing. And as the years pass He’s busy using the hard
weather of our lives, the dry spells and the stormy
seasons to do a job of beautifying our souls that
nothing else can produce. And to think how often folks holler
because they want life easy! They took the old barn down today and hauled
it away to beautify a rich man’s house. And I reckon someday you and
I’ll be hauled off to Heaven to take on whatever chores the Good
Lord has for us on the Great Sky Ranch. And I suspect we’ll be more beautiful then for the seasons we’ve been
through here… and just maybe even add a bit of beauty to our
Father’s house. May there be peace within you today.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be. And………………………I do sincerely
Thank God for my wonderful friends and family who care about
me even though I show signs of weathering!