This morning I did something out of the ordinary, even for me. I got to church early and felt compelled to spend some alone time with God (that part is not that out of the ordinary). But today I climbed up on the roof of the church and sat right on the ridge of the auditorium and watched the sun come up (yes, that is the picture here – camera phones are great).
As I sat there in the cool morning air and watched God show off a bit, I listened and watched. I heard all the sounds of early morning – birds chirping, cars driving past with people heading into their daily routines – all of what one would normally expect. And in the sky was the sun, or rather clouds blocking the sun. But it was easy to know the sun was there because of the rays coming through the holes in the clouds.
What a beautiful image of life and Jesus. We stay so busy with our lives that we often fail to look, but there in the midst of it all, larger than life is Jesus, streaming through the breaks in the clouds. We may not see him directly but we know that he is there because of the rays that come through, overpowering the darkness.
Hebrews 1:3 says that Jesus is the “radiance of God’s glory.” The radiance of God’s glory! Wow, just like the rays of the sun emanating from the source through the clouds this morning. Jesus is the visible and tangible human experience of God.
I pray that today Jesus the Son will be as real to you as the sun in the sky. Have a great day!
I saw the same sun rise…at first the cloud’s bottoms where hot pink, then baby pink, and then they turned a brilliant white. I believe it is God’s own way of romancing me (His prevenient grace) wooing me into a deeper relationship with HIM. I LOVE IT!!!
I feel the same when watching a meteor shower. The faint sparkle of planets and stars on a velvety background, then — a surprise! A streak of light as God says, “Hey, look around you for the new things I have planned for you!” The ooh aah moments that you might miss if your eyes are closed to the wonders hidden in a child’s eyes, to the soft touch of an elderly hand, to the need that God has placed you to fill. When my boys were younger, sleeping bags in the yard at 3 AM were not uncommon on shower nights, as we would wait for God to speak to us in the stones He was skipping across our atmosphere. Precious memories!
Sometimes manmade things make me feel this way. We live east of town and from our driveway every night, the sunset is reflecting off the ethonal plant. The lights over the top of the two towers and in between are a very distinct cross. I have tried to take a picture but it doesn’t do it justice. Go, look, and meditate!