“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” Psalm 19:1
The word WONDER can be understood as “a feeling of surprise and appreciation caused by something beautiful or out of the ordinary. “
We’ve all felt surprised, excited, thankful and maybe even had our breath taken away by something extremely special and out of the ordinary. On April 8th, the God of creation (Genesis 1 & 2) is surprising us with something out of the ordinary and beautiful in his creation through the solar eclipse. How awesome it will be to see and the experience of God’s handiwork and artistry! It is my hope that the area skies will be clear and that we will be provided a breathtaking experience and our hearts and minds drawn to the magnificence of our loving God who put all things together for our good!
But you know as I thought about things, truth is, God surprises us everyday with beautiful things doesn’t he? God is creator and he is our provider not just on April 8th. And while there are surprises and really special things that happen in our lives like a total solar eclipse, we can’t forget that God is blessing us everyday with beautiful things. everyday we can be surprised by JOY as he shines in our lives and through all the seasons. You know, sometimes it can be easy to forget God goodness and brilliance. Sometimes we can take the everyday beautiful things in our lives for granted.
Of course, the most beautiful and the most brilliant blessing the world has ever seen is God’s Son-our Jesus. Jesus is the BRIGHTEST AND THE BEST; He is the LIGHT OF THE WORLD and there is no darkness that extinguish his powerful love for us.(1 John 1:15)
As you well know, when a total solar eclipse happens the sky gets very dark, but here’s the thing, what really stands out during a total eclipse is the brightness of the Sun! In fact our eyes are drawn to it ( DON’T LOOK WITHOUT SPECIAL GLASSES).
When the darkness of sin came into the world, God our creator and provider provided a beautiful and brilliant plan of redemption in Jesus. Jesus died on the cross to defeat darkness. On the first Easter morning he rose from the dead and because he did we are forgiven and can live in the light of his love forever. The Good News for you and me is that God draws our eyes to the brightness of his Son JESUS’ love everyday! Jesus is our beautiful Savior. He is the King of Creation (Colossians 1:15-20) and because he is, he is brighter and more powerful than any darkness we might experience in life. He is even far more powerful than the darkness of sin, death and the devil!
Friends, Jesus is with us everyday and he wants us to look to him ALWAYS! And unlike a total solar eclipse we Don’t need special glasses to fix our eyes on him!!
On April 8th as we experience the total eclipse; let’s give thanks to God for his beautiful handiwork. But let us too be filled with wonder for the bright shining Love of Jesus which shines in and through us now and forever!!
Pastor Galen