CLEAR SHINING

There are moments when the earth’s beauty parallels the glories of heaven, when you look at your surroundings with awe and know there is a God who loves and cares about you. Growing up on a farm with a 360-degree view of the sky, I was always very in tune with nature. When I look at the clear dawn sky after a night of rain and observe the unique optical effect created by the mingling of mist and dust, I’m reminded of King David’s last recorded words: “[A godly ruler] is like the light of morning at sunrise, like a morning without clouds, like the gleaming of the sun on new grass after rain.”

I am also fascinated by crepuscular rays that shine with an ethereal light. They are rays of sunlight separated by darker cloud-shadowed regions, and though they are nearly parallel, they appear to radiate from a single point. They stream from behind mountains or clouds like a fan scattering sunlight through dust particles or falling from gaps in between clouds. Sometimes these are called “God Rays.”

Whenever I see them, I stop and give thanks to God for showing His glory in His creation and demonstrating spiritual principles through visual phenomena. Without the particles of dust or water vapor obscuring the pure sunlight, we could never see its beauty so clearly. Without the clouds trying to hide the sun, we’d miss some of the facets of its magnificence.

In our lives, the annoyances, like dust, that shroud our light and try to overwhelm our days with small distractions, actually work together to bring about a deeper beauty. If we take a moment to behold the beauties of creation, the first rays of dawn or the twilight, our lives are filled with beauty that is majestic and proudly proclaims God’s love shining down on us, pure, unfailing, and eternal.

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Matthew 6:34 ESV / “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Matthew 6:19 ESV / “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,

Jeremiah 33:3 ESV / Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.