Just another sunrise?

The heavens keep telling the wonders of God, and the skies declare what he has done. Each day informs the following day; each night announces to the next. They don’t speak a word, and there is never the sound of a voice. Yet their message reaches all the earth, and it travels around the world. In the heavens a tent is set up for the sun. It rises like a bridegroom and gets ready like a hero eager to run a race. It travels all the way across the sky. Nothing hides from its heat. (Psalm 19:1-6)

We might be amazed with each sunrise, sunset, and the phases of the moon! Why? They are simply doing what they were designed to do - to keep telling the wonders of God and declaring boldly what he has done! They declare his creative power and his ability to sustain all things with nothing more than the sound of his voice! This should give us cause to pause for just a few moments to consider his greatness and to bask in his brilliance! When we think of the sun and the moon, we are to consider them as "declarations" of God's continued care for each of us. Without a word, the sun goes down and the moon takes its place in the sky. Without a sound, the sun begins the slow journey from somewhere below the horizon into the majesty of the sky above. In the passage of hours, it finds itself lingering just along the opposite horizon, giving that final glow of daylight as the moon sets about the path it will keep during those ensuing nighttime hours. No announcement is heard - no words are spoken - yet the brilliance of the sun's brightness and the faithfulness of the moon's passage tell of the faithfulness of our God.

Scripture tells us if we don't tell of his faithfulness, even nature will declare it. The message is heralded by the brightness of day and the dark, but brilliant night hours. The world is without excuse when it comes to knowing there is a God - for even the things we take so much for granted declare his faithfulness and grace. Without the sun, we would be launched into perpetual darkness and frigid temperatures. Without the brilliance of those rays beating down on plants below, the exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen would never occur. Apart from their faithful coming and going, all life as we know it would cease to follow its pattern of life. Even us! We often take for granted things which God has taken so much care to prepare and preserve for our well-being. I have an appreciation for the majesty of what God has created and the tremendous amount of care he put into the handiwork each object of his creative power exhibits. Whether it is you or I that is being considered as his handiwork, or the tree fully in bloom with magnificent magnolia blooms filling the air with their sweet smell, or the seeming ease at which the humpback whale rises from the depths below - God is declared to be GOD in all of these things.

Stop to consider these wonders now and again. Think about the mystery of these objects. We don't really know what keeps the sun and moon in their places in the skies above, although scientists have studied their existence and course for years and years. We don't really know how they came to be, although scripture declares clearly their existence is clearly from God's hand - created from nothing - something we cannot comprehend with our finite minds. Some days reveal the passage of those bright rays in shorter spans than others, depending upon the time of year we observe their presence. Maybe this is because God wants us to recognize there are times when we need to bring rest to the earth and seasons when productive growth occurs. Maybe this is symbolic of how we go through seasons of tremendous growth, followed by what seems like times of coolness and barrenness. Those aren't times of barrenness. They are times of preparation - for in those moments when the days seem darker, our hearts are being prepared for the returning of the brilliance of those productive seasons soon to break upon the horizon of our lives! No announcement is necessary for the sun to take its place high above us. God's care is behind the dependability of its rising and setting! Just as consistent as he is in arranging for the sun to take its course high above us, his care over our lives may be depended upon because his carefulness over our lives and the course we take within them is for more important to him! Just sayin!

The Watchman

Lord, your word continues forever in heaven. You are loyal forever and ever. You made the earth, and it still stands. All things continue today because of your laws. Like slaves, they all obey you. (Psalm 119:89-91)

God's care and watchfulness keep all things in this state of continual renewal. It is a little appreciated fact that God's breath animates the world around us, keeping the things in alignment within the universe, making the tides swell and recede. The very watchfulness of God should give us encouragement in the dark times when we think there is nothing going as it should, or the high and impenetrable walls of stress are closing in around us. There is nothing which exists or continues in its existence (and this includes us), which doesn't do so because he has made it possible for it to exist!

Like it or not, suffering is part of life. We are not exempt from the troubles of life that occur by being inside a human body subject to the aging process. We aren't going to escape the winds that blow, the waters that rise, or the fires which rage - their effect may not be immediate to us, but they will ultimately affect something in our lives. We might attempt to navigate around traffic jams on our way to our destination, but even the best GPS cannot save us from the fact people occupy space in front of us in their vehicles, on similar journeys as we may be on, crawling along at a pace slightly faster or slower than our own.

Everything has limits - except the power and purpose of God's Word. His commands have no limits. They are meant to support us when we are troubled by the things of this life, build us up when our strength is waning, and restore us when our minds are fatigued by the many pressures invading our emotional space. Destructive forces are around us on every plane - God's Word is the one thing which will make us wise enough to avoid what can be avoided, embrace what cannot, and walk away stronger. The truth will always be the same - God is loyal forever and ever. Try as we might, we cannot define "forever and ever" because the words express a lack of beginning or ending. It is like when we say our sins are removed as far as the east is from the west - immeasurable distance exists between us and our sin once Christ is invited into the midst of our lives. Limits don't exist where God is at work. Just sayin!