I love sunsets. I have always felt like sunsets are paintings from God for us to marvel. The beautiful pinks and oranges, the billowing white of the clouds illuminated by the rays of a setting sun bring a smile to my face every single time I see them. Here I am, He says. How can anyone not see God when they look at His masterpiece hanging in the sky, changing colors and dimensions until He wipes the canvas clean and allows the moon to rise? My God is an awesome God.
I have began reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan. It is a small book, but one I am reading slowly, deliberately to allow each word speak to me. In it, the author makes the point immediately that we serve an amazing God. He is not some far-away concept of a being. He is here with us every day, and He wants us to stand awestruck at His sheer magnitude. Only when we realize how truly capable and masterful He is, can we understand the sacrifice that He made for us - the totally insignificant, undeserving sinners we are. Marvel at Him.
One of the first exercises that you are to do while reading the book is view a slideshow of the Earth that slowly zooms out to show the existence of stars, the solar system, the galaxy, and the multitude of galaxies that exist. Yes, our Creator made all of that. Pretty impressive stuff, but you expect things of that magnitude from Him. Now, realize that He also made caterpillars who have 228 separate and distinct muscles in its head. Wow... I read that and said wow... That is incredibly intricate and detail oriented. Yes, I expect my God to create galaxies but He also created a teeny tiny little creature with 228 muscles just in its head. Okay, keep going... He also engineered the whole system where plants take in carbon dioxide (poison to us) and produce oxygen (life for us). I stand in awe at the brillance of My God.
Now, keep going.. Lets make this personal. Every single person has a different laugh. There are giggles, quiet hidden laughter, snorts, loud boisterous laughter like mine. He even thought to do that. Love that!
This is where I am in the book, but like so many things I read, I have been pondering it, applying it to various parts of my life. I sat this evening watching Taylor play softball right beside my ex-husband. This is a new experience. Taylor's dad has not attended many of his events due to work and other things. He is making a concentrated effort to change this now. We talked about various people who attended Taylor's birthday barbeque last weekend and he commented on how changed everyone is from when we were first dating 23 years ago. We have all changed, but each change is individual too. No two people are exactly alike. God made every single person on this earth an individual.
I have wrinkles. I've earned them. I am 42 and a mom, so yes.. I have lines on my face. My wrinkles are totally different than anyone elses. They tell MY story. I have laugh lines around my eyes. I love to laugh. If you meet me and know absolutely nothing about me, you can look at my face and know that I am a genuinely happy person. I also have deep concentration crevices (or at least they feel that way to me) in my forehead. This tells the stranger looking at me that I am also a thinker who worries about things. These deep forehead lines bother me, but there's no reason to worry about me turning to Botox. God has made my face this unique. Why would I ever change it?
Look around you. There are flowers blooming. The grass is turning green. Birds are singing; each type serenading us with a completely different tune. Caterpillars are becoming butterflies. Stand awestruck. Our God is an awesome God.
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