Sunsets and Promises

The sky has always fascinated me. As a kid, I'd lay in the grass and watch in wonder as the cumulus clouds soared over the trees that hemmed our house tightly against Crowley's Ridge. As I suspect most children do, I pondered the mysteries of the skies. Oh, to fly with them someday...

Later in life, I worked overnight as a mechanic in the Air Force. Never had I known what secret beauty the heavens held through the night watches. There are so many shades of blues, blacks, and purples - colors that man could never duplicate - shifting silently through our world going mostly unnoticed. So many nights I would take a break from my work to just watch in silence the magnificence above me. If only my eyes were a camera I could show you what I've seen, but my words will have to suffice. See, I've always seen God's creation as evidence of his love for us. Romans 1:20 says:

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

A few weeks ago I was in the backyard taking pictures of planes or birds or something and I, on a whim, snapped a few pictures of the sky. There was just something beautiful about it, but nothing that would cause you to stand back and say, "Whoa!". I'm not much of a photographer- I get frustrated trying to get what I see with my eyes to show up on the camera shot. But every now and then, I guess we all are in the right place at the right time. When we put the picture on the computer to look at it, this is what we saw:

Wow. That's all I can say. It's as if we caught a glimpse of a sliver of a fragment of God's glory radiating through the cloudscape. What I saw through the lens of Bethany's camera was nowhere near what showed up on the computer screen, but it's no surprise. Isn't it just like God to sneak in something beautiful when we're least expecting it. How many times has He stunned me to silence with His masterpieces? I'm sure you can relate.

With all the stress that comes with living in such an UnGodly world, our Savior reminds again that He is in control. Humans may deny Him, dilute him, and declare Him powerless but Psalms 19:1 reminds us:

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

And again in Psalms 97:6:

The heavens announce that he'll set everything right, And everyone will see it happen -glorious!

When I get so frustrated- as I often do - He promises His love by writing it on the sky. A sky so enormous that there is no where I can go on this earth where I'm not covered by it.

~ Ben