Stop And See

Stop and See

The Heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Psalm 19:1, NIV

“Hey, Hon. You awake?” I whispered it into the darkness, standing by the edge of the bed. I heard a groggy “Yeah” from my husband, buried beneath the blankets. “Great! Come with me,” I said as I turned and trotted out of the bedroom. I heard his slightly incredulous voice following me down the hall: “Are we going outside?”

It was 2:30 a.m., and Aaron and I were at a cabin nestled deep in a pine forest, overlooking a lake. We stumbled about, gathering coats and shoes before cracking open the door and stepping out into darkness. We gingerly navigated the forty-three steps down to the lake, emerged from the pine forest onto the dock, and looked up.

Stars. Billions of them. Orion. The Seven Sisters. The Big Dipper. The Milky Way glittered like a million diamonds in the sky. We drew in a breath and stared upward. There were no man-made lights to compete with the splendor arrayed above us, and the night sky was breathtaking.

I mused, I sleep through all this beauty every night? We all sleep through it? Who is this beauty for? And then I remembered Psalm 19: “The Heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands” (NIV).

This magnificence was but a tiny, breathtaking glimpse of the glory of God. I could not fully wrap my brain around the thought that there is something infinitely more glorious than what I was seeing in that moment. Deep within, I felt a stirring to wake up and see instead of stumbling and sleepwalking through the days, through the obligations, through life itself.

While we are called to think of and care for others, we cannot do that for long without experiencing our own refreshment and renewal. Worship plays an important role in how I refresh and renew my soul, and besides singing, spending time quietly awed by creation is my favorite way to worship God.

—Julie

— Today’s Act of Kindness —

Stop and really see the beauty of God’s creation. Spend time reflecting on what it means to be surrounded by his glory. Remember that God created this beauty for you to enjoy as an act of love and kindness.