With all the recent focus on space, probes and blue moons, most of us have been looking heavenward more than we usually do. And I am no exception. But last night, as I was fishing with our grandson, Drew, during his visit here from Oklahoma, we couldn’t help but be totally mesmerized by the light show that we saw as the sun was going down. It wasn’t only good, it was great – maybe the best sunset I have ever seen.
Here in Indiana, it starts to get dark around 9:00 pm and takes about 20 minutes for the sun to slip behind the horizon. And each night, I have made it a habit to go outside and watch the free show that God is giving us each evening. I can’t recall when we have had a summer filled with such beauty and wonder.
Of course, we know that God created the heavens and the earth and everything that is in them – the sun, moon, stars and all the other galaxies that go on into infinity. And yet, here we are on this relatively small planet that is fragile and that we have been charged with taking care of.
I wasn’t the only one impressed last night. Drew was excited as well and when we got a fish on the line, he ran in to get Janet and his mother, Jill, our youngest daughter. You couldn’t have asked for a better combination of events. The family together, the beautiful sky and a young grandson fishing with his grandfather – it really couldn’t get more perfect.
In the book of Job, presumably the oldest book in the Bible, God gave Satan access to Job and all the material possessions that he had acquired. When Job’s faith couldn’t be shaken, God actually allowed Satan to torment Job physically. The middle chapters of the book deal with three friends who try to convince Job that he must have sinned in order for God to deal with him in such a harsh way. Job disagreed – saying that he hadn’t done anything sinful that would cause this kind of punishment from God.
The ending chapters of the book include a conversation between God and Job. God speaks to His creation and he challenges Job about where he was when the creation was happening. Of course, Job has no real response for God other than that he (Job) is unworthy and spoke from ignorance about God. I think that goes for all of us, doesn’t it?
Before the final confrontation between Job and God, Job addresses his friends about some of the things that God has done in His creation. And that brings us to the verse of the evening. Job tells us, in Job 26:7, “He (God) spreads out the northern [skies] over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing.” Even this simple verse is impressive – God suspends the earth over “nothing.” How awesome is that?
My encouragement this evening is that God wants us to care for and enjoy His creation. After all, it was originally created as a nest for us to live in communion with God before the fall in the Garden of Eden. My prayer is that with the hustle and bustle of life, you will take a few minutes each night and look heavenward as the sun is setting. I think you may be amazed at what God has in store for you. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…