Glory in a sunset

 

 

               “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands”- Psalm 19:1

 

               A couple of months ago my family moved from a Jonesborough neighborhood to a parsonage in Telford. While the move was only a few miles, there were a couple of things that I have had to get used to.

First of all, my neighbors. Not my neighbors who live in the houses around me, but my neighbors who graze in the pasture beside me. I have never thought of myself as much of a “city-slicker”, but to be honest, I have never lived beside cows. Not too bad to have as neighbors though, they don’t complain about anything and they haven’t asked to borrow anything yet. Plus, as a pastor, they have been great to listen to my sermon preparations as I stand on my back porch beside the fence. Sometimes they wander away before I get to the main point, but overall they have been a gracious and captive congregation.

The second thing I have been getting used to is the trains. I never knew so many trains ran in North America as pass through Telford. The first couple of weeks the train whistle would blow and I would jump. Several times I pulled a pillow over my head thinking there should be a law against horn blowing after 11:00PM. Sometimes they even stop and block my access to the Telford Diner. But as time has passed I am getting more accustomed to the trains.

Last night I walked out onto my back deck. There were no neighboring cows in the pasture beside me. There were no trains rumbling down the track behind me. But there was an amazing sunset. That may be one of my favorite things about my new home in Telford, the sunsets.

Psalm 19 sings of the greatness of God revealed in His creation and in His Word.

As I was mesmerized by the vivid colors and streaks of clouds in the sky I felt nothing but God’s presence, His power, and His love. How awesome is our God that He would provide something so simple as a sunset, but in that simplicity of shape and color reveal so much of His power and glory? If there had been a train horn blowing at that moment I probably wouldn’t have noticed it. If there had been a dairy chorus of mooing neighbors at the fence I probably wouldn’t have heard. I was just enjoying a simple gift of a sunset.

I have missed more sunsets than I have enjoyed over the years. Sometimes because I was too busy, sometimes because clouds may have been obscuring the view, sometimes because I wasn’t even thinking about them. But the sunset was still there. God was still showing His colorful and artistic greatness in the setting sun whether I noticed or not.

One evening this week take your Bible outside. Catch a sunset. Start counting stars. Listen to the sounds of nature around you. Read Psalm 19. And rest in the promise that a loving and caring God who has the power to create the universe and to create life from chaos, is the same God who cares enough to paint you a brilliant picture in the sky every evening. God is good..all the time!