Eyes on the Bubble Maker

Once while on vacation and out on a walk, I saw a man who had a large, round shallow pan into which he poured some type of liquid. Then he pulled out a round wire about the size of a large pizza tray, and with that wire, he started making bubbles.

This “bubble maker” began to toss large bubbles up into the air above the busy walking street. I was interested to see how the pedestrians—both locals and tourists—would react to the bubbles floating overhead.

Two well-dressed, middle-aged women continued walking and talking to each other, never noticing the bubble above them, even though one nearly landed on one of them. A businessman adeptly dodged a bubble as he hurried along. A couple of student girls laughed and giggled as they poked at the bubbles that floated across their path.

Then there was a young mother, walking with her young child. The bubbles had not escaped his attention. The mother followed her son’s gaze, glancing up to see the large bubbles floating almost magically in the air. She stopped and gave her child the opportunity to enjoy the bubbles.

The child stared in amazement, watching one large bubble float upward and then slowly descend to the sidewalk and pop. At first he looked like he was about to cry at the disappearance of the bubble, but then he turned his attention to the bubble maker, who had already sent another large bubble up into the air, and another and another. The child, by this time, was smiling grandly.

It made me think about how bubbles are similar to the gifts that God has given us. James 1:17 says, “Every good gift, every perfect present comes from heaven; it comes down from God.”1 God loves to give us things that are not only “good” but that are fun, enjoyable, and cool. He wants us to be happy and to enjoy life.

When you think about the things you enjoy most in life, maybe your friends come to mind. Or maybe you have a blast spending time with your parents or an older brother or sister. Or maybe you’re on a team playing a sport that you’re good at and really enjoy, and this is very important to you. However, no doubt you have realized that some of these “good things” don’t last forever. There comes a time in everyone’s life when things change. Just like bubbles, sometimes things that we treasure float away or fade and are gone. That’s the way life is, and knowing this doesn’t make loss any easier to experience.

When you face a situation like this, it helps to remember that there will always be more good things to come from the Creator. The bubble you just watched disappear isn’t the last bubble that will come your way, and it doesn’t mean that all good things have been taken away from you permanently. God will always, in some form, give back to you something or things in place of what has been lost or perhaps taken away—sometimes making the replacements even better than what you originally had.

God wants us to be happy. He wants us to enjoy life. He wants to give us good things. He has so much to give us, so many things for us to enjoy. Only He knows the deepest desire of your heart, and He longs to delight you, His special child. “Wait for the Lord: be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”2

S&S link: Character Building: Values and Virtues: positiveness-2cAuthored by Dan Roselle, adapted. Originally published on Just1Thing.

Illustrated by Nozomi Matsuoka. Designed by Roy Evans.Published by My Wonder Studio. Copyright © 2018 by The Family International

Footnotes1 Good News Translation (GNT)2 Psalm 27:14 ESV