Can You See It?

Canoeing down the Macal River through the tropical rain forest last week, our Belizean guide Wally pointed out the native birds barely visible in the thick vegetation. Sometimes even when he pointed to them, we had a hard time finding them with our unskilled eyes. But Wally’s eye sight has been perfected through years of paying attention.

One of the things we learned quickly was to look ‘up’ if we wanted to see the iguanas. They climb high above the shaded forest, resting on tree top branches in the open sunlight. Their greenish/grey skin blended in so well with the colors of the trees, they were difficult to see even when Wally pointed, patiently asking “can you see it?” As he waited for us to see, the canoe would drift away from the sight, and Wally, not wanting us to miss it, would back paddle until we would say, “Oh! now I see.”

I couldn’t help thinking of how many things in life we drift right by because we are not paying close enough attention—missing important things God wants to point out to us. “For this reason we must pay much closer attention… so that we do not drift away from it” (Heb. 2:1).