The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world. | Psalm 19:1-4
This blog post was written by Jason Griffith, one of the deacons at the church.
It is easy in our busy 21st century lives to forget that long before the Word took written form, God’s creation spoke daily into people’s lives. This truth was made plain to me last October, while on a long trip with the family to Utah.
The centerpiece of our Utah odyssey was a 10-day, 100-mile canoe down the Green River to its confluence with the Colorado. Since our family had never done a wilderness trip of this length or style before, we were consumed in the days leading up to it: madly packing/repacking, driving, and jostling for space in Moab to prepare for our launch.
Once we got out on the river, though, all the bustle faded and we were mostly alone. It was just us and the wind, the rocks, the sun, the stars, the moon, and the river – always the river- relentlessly moving the mountains to the sea. But not quickly. Certainly not on our timeline. The Green was low after months without rain; to stay on pace we had to paddle, and sometimes paddle hard, especially when there was wind blowing against us. The river was in no hurry. But it didn’t need to be. It has time, more than any of us can comprehend, to slowly grind the rocks to sand and shuffle the grains to the Colorado River and, eventually, the Gulf of Mexico. Flood by flood, season by season, millennia upon millennia, the Green and Colorado rivers have carved canyons through solid rock more than a mile deep. The time scales involved are beyond comprehension (at least mine!), but yet they are nothing compared to eternity.
The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of all the earth. | Psalm 97:5
I was reminded that God works on his schedule, which is far beyond the span of our lives.
And then there was the night, when the stars would come out, too numerous to count, spilling across the sky. The light from these stars was on the way to our eyes long before recorded human history had begun. Some of the stars are already burnt out, but yet humanity may not last long enough to see them fade to nothing. And, if after gazing up at the night sky you think you can wrap your mind around the immensity of space (unlikely!), consider this: everything that we can see with our eyes and our scientific instruments- everything in the known universe – makes up less than 5% of what actually must exist for the universe to behave as we can see that it does. The rest is called dark matter and energy, hypothesized to be, but beyond our present abilities to detect or know.
I was reminded that God’s infinite nature cannot be understood by finite man.
“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone,
when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy? | Job 38:4-7
Day after day, night after night, these truths soaked into me as I dipped my paddle and looked through the smoke of the fire to the stars. Given God’s unknowable immensity, driven home by the awesome scale of his creation, it is a profound mystery why he would care for man or for his salvation. But that is the promise we are given, the basis for the hope that we have as Christians.
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. | John 5:24
I was reminded that we have a place at the table, but we must remember that we also have our place in God’s order.
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him? | Psalm 8:3-4
I’ve found that Creation can teach these lessons more effectively than most anything else- if you put yourself in a position to be taught. Get far away from the comforts of your house, your car, and modern civilization. Embrace the uncertainty and the suffering that it may entail. You will learn much about God and yourself.
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. | Colossians 1:16
