Good morning…
When God overwhelms me with an audacious sunrise or a mind boggling sunset, I often snap a photo on my iPhone. Before I shared with our online community the photo of yesterday’s sunrise above, I personally texted the image to four sun-loving friends. Very quickly, I got my first response.
“We all need this today,” she wrote, snapping a photo of the very same sunrise, taken from the top of the church parking garage.
“Thinking of you as the sun rises on an important new day,” I group texted two other friends the photo.
“WOW!!” one replied. “That is breathtaking! Yes, I love all the pink sunsets God has sent us since our daughter died. They are a beautiful reminder to me of how incredible heaven must be.”
Moments later, the other friend replied to us from Jacksonville, Florida. “Beautiful!!! I took this about 30 min ago!”
“I’m praying that God’s light fills the home of every heart,” I texted back my deepest desire. Then I snapped a photo of the sunlight crawling all over our walls. Undeniable. Unstoppable. God quietly illuminating everything.
“I’m doing The Discipleship Journal Bible reading plan,” our Florida friend texted back. “I just read Psalm 4: ‘…for thou alone, O Lord, makest me dwell in safety.’ As I typed these words, I could hear the national anthem being played from the National Air Station down the river.”
Having sent the same “May God’s light fill the home of every heart” prayer and the two photos of God’s glorious glow inside and out, the response from my fourth friend soon lit up my phone. “Thank you, Sue, and I’ll pray the same. Here’s a Naples sunset for you from earlier this week.”
“Wow,” my fingers fell silent in awe.
Why do I exchange photos of the spectacular sky with friends near and far? Because we all need constant, tangible reminders that our Creator is in the process of redeeming everything. Regardless of the circumstances waking us up or coaxing us to sleep, the Almighty God is active, present, powerfully at work, both now and forever.
With words from the heartbreaking book of Lamentations we live encouraged. How enduring is God’s loyal love; the Eternal has inexhaustible compassion. Here they are, every morning, new! Your faithfulness, God, is as broad as the day (3:22-23, VOICE).
…Sue…
