sunrise

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Headlights slice through the black. I watch for animals making their final move under cover of darkness. The day's tasks already run through my mind, the never ending playlist of this life. I'm on autopilot until I turn the corner, when I'm surprised to hear a breathless Wow! escape my lips.

I can't count the number of colors I see. The designs painted in the sky. The detail of it all is astonishing. My first inclination is to stop, pull out my phone, and take a picture. Potential captions pop into my head. The car behind me quashes any chance I have at social media popularity for the day. I must keep driving. Although my attention should be on the road, my eyes are continually drawn to the ongoing magnificent display above me. The shifts in light and color are almost imperceptible, but each moment creates a scene more dazzling than the one before it. How could a piece of technology capture an all-glorious God at work? I feel ashamed that I wanted to try.

And then, it happens. I am overcome by the brilliance of the Creator who dabbles in colors we dream about. Who takes a pewter canvas and turns it into a beauty that nearly crushes me. It takes my breath away. I have nothing for it, but to turn off the podcast and worship. How can I not?

I, who have long counted words among my closest friends, cannot find them. They are choked up with tears and repentance and the realization that I am a fraud. Because how can I witness a moment like this and not know, with every atomic particle in my body, that my Father is working? How can I not trust that He is controlling a pandemic, a political turmoil, a social unrest? How can I not have faith that He is working all of these for my good and His glory? Lord, I want to believe. Help my unbelief!

Conviction dawns like the morning.  I have been looking at the world through screens for so long now, that I've accepted the distorted images they offer as truth rather than the cheap imitations they are. I've allowed them to blind me to the holiness and  omnipotence of the One who is ruling and reigning. Lord, give me eyes to see! Show me your glory!

The colors are muted against the brightness of the sun. The moment is over. But I know there will be another, because His mercies are new every morning. He is faithful, even when I am faithless. And though he had no beauty while he walked the earth, his splendid creation cannot hold a candle to his majesty.

In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.
- Isaiah 30:16

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