God of Sunsets

Psa 8:1-5, 9 NLT - [1] For the choir director: A psalm of David, to be accompanied by a stringed instrument. O LORD, our Lord, the majesty of your name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens. [2] You have taught children and nursing infants to give you praise. They silence your enemies who were seeking revenge. [3] When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers-- the moon and the stars you have set in place-- [4] what are mortals that you should think of us, mere humans that you should care for us? [5] For you made us only a little lower than God, and you crowned us with glory and honor. ... [9] O LORD, our Lord, the majesty of your name fills the earth!

I drove back into Birmingham this evening. The last of the sunset draped over the bottom horizon between the sky and trees. The sunset illuminated the clouds, soaking them in orange and gold. I couldn’t help but think of God. Truly the psalmist was right when he proclaimed “O LORD, our Lord, the majesty of your name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens.” Nature’s beauty can completely overwhelm you when you stop to consider its author. The power and asymmetry mixed with mystery and wonder reveal the greatness of our God.

This is something we don’t stop to do enough. It’s quite amazing how many people walk through the world every day without even stopping to look at the wondrous night sky, arrayed with jewels of worlds billions of miles away. God is incredible! We don’t give Him enough credit for what he does. Nature can be a powerful worship experience. It is a time of meditation; a time of worship between us and God. We should all take the same attitude as the psalmist: “When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers-- the moon and the stars you have set in place--what are mortals that you should think of us, mere humans that you should care for us?” Stop and think about it: the universe has billions of planets and stars, and yet God cares enough about you to listen to your prayers as simple as helping you find a parking spot or help a troubled friend or coworker.

Go through your day remembering to reflect on God. Use nature as a mirror to our souls. It will reveal that the God who makes a different sunset every day also is making you, little by little, into something beautiful.

“Where He Leads Me I Will Follow”

Gen 12:1-5 NIV - [1] The Lord had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. [2] "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. [3] I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." [4] So Abram left, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. [5] He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.

There tend to be three categories of people in regards to change: those who resist it because they see it as an impediment, those who embrace it without question because they see it as a step forward, and those who accept only that change which they see as a step forward. Typically, it is those older who we think of as less accepting to change. So it is surprising that we see Abram accept it blindly. This is why he is known as “the father of faith.” Abram’s story reminds us that we serve a God who is constantly asking us to change. He is a moving God, and we must move with Him.

Let us look at Abram’s journey. Abruptly, after introducing Abram into the genealogical record of the table of nations, we see God commanding Abram to “Leave [his] country, [his] people and [his] father’s household and go to the land [the Lord] will show [him].” This is not a small request. Rarely do God’s requests seem to be small, yet we must follow Him. He has a purpose too great for us to comprehend, and in that purpose lies blessings for us. The Lord promised to “make [Abram] into a great nation” and “bless [him].” He “[made Abram’s] name great” and made him “a blessing.” Though the blessings of the Lord are not always so obvious at the time, I have never finished my journey without experiencing them. I know of no man who has followed God to the ends of the earth and then said, “Twas a bit less than I expected.”

So we must follow the Lord wherever He leads. His voice is guiding us, just as it guided Abram. Will we, as Abram, take all we have and follow the Lord to the land He has promised?

A Watchful God

A Watchful God

Psa 146:5-10 NLT - [5] But happy are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the LORD their God. [6] He is the one who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. He is the one who keeps every promise forever, [7] who gives justice to the oppressed and food to the hungry. The LORD frees the prisoners. [8] The LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts the burdens of those bent beneath their loads. The LORD loves the righteous. [9] The LORD protects the foreigners among us. He cares for the orphans and widows, but he frustrates the plans of the wicked. [10] The LORD will reign forever. O Jerusalem, your God is King in every generation! Praise the LORD!

Psalms 146 reminds us of an important truth: that our God watches out for the world. So many times we forget He is here. We see and hear of unlimited violence on the television and radio. We are told our world is crashing down, and that Jesus will come soon. But so quickly we forget of how He has helped the hands of the broken. He has crushed the nations who wage war against His saints. He has fed the poor, aided the widows. The Lord “frees the prisoners.” He “opens the eyes of the blind.” He “lifts the burdens of those bent beneath their loads. He “protects the foreigners among us.” He “cares for the orphans and widows, but frustrates the plans of the wicked.”

So quickly we forget that the Lord is watching over this world. He is watching over His children. God does not throw in the towel too easily. We are like rebellious children whom He is wrestling into submission. He knows just what is needed to turn us back to Him.

Knowing this, we should receive joy and hope. It is tempting for us to give up on the world, to deem it hopeless, though it is in such desperate need of saving. Souls have yet to be won to the Kingdom. Each individual is precious in the eyes of God, and the Lord desires each one to be redeemed. So He watches. And watches. And He acts. How does he act? He acts through the actions of His children. The Lord’s hands and feet are not bound by the celestial sinews of an infinite force, but are knit together by the souls of men and women willing and ready to do His will.

I wonder, do we act knowing the Lord is looking down on His creation? Psalms says, “Happy are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the LORD their God.” God is our helper: this should bring joy and hope to us. If, as the Psalmist describes, “He is the one who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. He is the one who keeps every promise forever,” then can He not keep His promise of protection for His children? Can He not keep creating each day? You know, Genesis 1 may have mentioned that day six was the last process involved in the physical creation of the world, but day seven never ended. There was no “evening and morning, the seventh day.” God’s creation has shifted to the lives of individuals spread across the face of the earth. He creates hearts, and He watches them from above. Amen.

With love in Christ,

Austin Aldrich