I have, sitting on my bathroom shelf, this little travel bag with the design of a peacock in brilliant blue.
Those of you who are savvy world travelers will recognize this peacock design as belonging to KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. I, myself, was clueless to this fact when I first saw this little bag.
This little KLM peacock bag is very special to me because it was gifted to me by my daughter … from her very first international business trip. It is evidence of God’s goodness!
This summer our church has been going through a sermon series over Psalm 23. Each Sunday the congregation stands as our pastor reads Psalm 23 in its entirety. I like to close my eyes as the Psalm is being read, and picture in my mind each of the different verse-art graphics I created for this Psalm.
“He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” – Psalm 23:3
The day I took this photo my daughter and I were on a hike up to see Heybrook Lookout … a former wildfire lookout tower; now become an epic location for overnight camping.
The hike up to Heybrook was steep and intense!
So also, the circumstances going on in my daughter’s life at that time were likewise difficult and intense!
As we hiked, we chatted … and my daughter verbally processed everything she was facing and going through in her career. It was a really difficult, painful season for her.
Psalm 23 states that Jesus, our good shepherd, leads us beside still quiet waters … He restores our soul … He leads us in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
But life isn’t always serene, peaceful quiet waters.
In fact, very little of real life is serene, peaceful quiet waters.
Real life is hard! Really hard!
And yet … Jesus, our good shepherd, faithfully and loving leads us through the hard. Jesus leads us up the steep intense difficult climb of life’s impossible circumstances. And Jesus brings us out on the other side … to a place of peace.
This is what the little KLM peacock bag, sitting on my bathroom shelf, represents! It represents that Jesus led my daughter up life’s steep intense difficult climb, and He brought her out to a place of peace on the other side. She is now in a really good place (career-wise).
The path was hard! Really hard! But that path was indeed a path of righteousness … which Jesus had intentionally led my daughter on.
“He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” – Psalm 23:3
That path is not going to be easy! That path of righteousness is going to be hard! It will include a steep intense difficult climb.
But Jesus will bring us through!
Jesus will be with us each step of the way!
And that steep intense difficult climb on the “path of righteousness” will ultimately bring us to a beautiful place.
This little KLM peacock bag is evidence of God’s goodness!
* God’s goodness brought my daughter through that intense difficult season in her career.
* And God’s goodness has since led my daughter overseas, on a path of international business travel.
* And God’s goodness brought her back home safely again.
* And God’s goodness will continue to be with my daughter … guiding and directing her in paths of righteousness into the future.
Evidence of God’s goodness!!
What evidence of God’s goodness can you see in your own life?
