Sunrise... Sunset...

I awoke just before the dawn.  The morning sky had not yet begun to unveil her majesty... so I waited.  The air was cool and clear, so I knew it would be glorious!

I waited... listening to the rhythm of the ocean, crickets chirping, birds beginning to sing.  I wonder...are we trudging through life blind to the miracle that happens every day?

A few minutes before 6:00 a.m. the first hues began to appear.  The dark sky is lined in pink and blues, the water calm yet rhythmic.

When I consider your heavens,

    the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars,

    which you have set in place,

what is mankind that you are mindful of them,

    human beings that you care for them?

Psalm 8:3-4

The water is calm and the small waves lap only at the shoreline. Porpoises are feeding on schools of fish.  The sea has its own pattern for the day, unseen to those above its surface.

I wait...thirty-four minutes as the sky brightens, eagerly anticipating the sun's morning debut.  At last, at 6:33 a.m. she began to peek over the horizon and within a span of two minutes she was up!

The sun has risen!

My heart sings: the SON has risen...He has risen indeed!

The camera just fails to capture the fullness of the rays that filled the sky and bounced off the water in those early moments... 

...bright pink like a stargazer lily, but shining forth the color rather than reflecting it!

I'm reminded of a Christ Tomlin song, Indescribable! 

From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea
   Creation's revealing Your majesty
From the colors of fall to the 
   fragrance of spring
Every creature unique in the song that it sings
   All exclaiming

Indescribable, uncontainable,
You placed the stars in the sky and 
   You know them by name.
You are amazing God
All powerful, untameable,
Awestruck we fall to our knees 
   as we humbly proclaim
You are amazing God

Seeing the sun shining so brightly in the sky and the bright glistening reflection off the water brings to mind the glimpse of heaven that John reveals in the book of Revelation:

There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. REVELATION 22:5

The sun shines so brightly that we are unable to look at it without damaging our eyes.  If an element of creation has such energy, I cannot begin to imagine what it will be like to be in the presence of the creator!

Have we lost the magnificence of creation in the ordinary?  

We live on a planet that spins on its axis at approximately 1,070 miles per hour at the equator, as it makes a full rotation each day.  The earth hurls through space in its annual trek around the sun at 67,000 miles per hour.  

These things happen without fail!  God is faithful.

The sun rises and sets on time each and every day!  As the sun lights the sky, be reminded that it is the Lord who gives source to its light.  

In the morning...give thanks!

At the close of this glorious day, an equally beautiful sunset graced the sky, providing a set of bookends to remember his faithfulness.

Knowing that the Lord has given us amazing provision 

each and every day...give thanks!