Christian Writers Circle

The Heavens Declare God’s Glory
By Brenda D. Flowers

A few weeks ago, my husband of thirty-eight years and I had the road trip of a lifetime, driving over two thousand miles across the United States. We began our journey in our home state of Tennessee and ended our trip on the coast of the Pacific Ocean, near Los Angeles, California.

We took a full week, purposing to visit key sites along the way. Our daughter, Catherine, who is moving from New York to California, joined us for the last four days of our drive, flying to meet us in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

One of the highlights of our trip together was visiting The Petrified Forest National Park in northeastern Arizona. We arrived at this national park close to dusk, but we were determined not to miss it after driving all day through barren semi-desert countryside.

Our goal was to see the large deposits of petrified wood and the highly eroded colorful badlands of the Painted Desert. The subtle colors of the sedimentary rocks and the shiny patterns of the fossilized trees were intriguing, but what captured our attention that evening was the sky as the sun was setting…

Words and photos cannot capture the magnificence of the beauty of the horizon we viewed for almost an hour that night! The colors of the sky were captivating. There was obviously rain in the distance and it literally appeared that God was taking his fingers and painting the sky, or using a mighty brush to add depth of hues. We all were in awe of bright reds, oranges, yellows and designs we saw in that ever changing sky.

When I meditate on the splendor of that sunset, I cannot help but agree with David when he said, “The heavens declare the glory of God.”  It was like God wanted to show us, but especially our artistic daughter, what a creative God He is. It would be difficult to doubt God as creator when viewing such a magnificent site.

The Bible is full of messages regarding God’s creative work. Starting in Genesis, we see these words, And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. Genesis 1: 3-4 (NIV)

David, who spent many days and evenings outside alone with God, viewed  the changes of the sky and the light of the sun. Under the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit, David wrote the first six verses of Psalm 19 to announce that God’s creation shows His glory:

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.

     In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat. Psalm 19: 1-6 (NIV)

Why is it people are drawn to take pictures of sunrises and sunsets? Go to any Facebook feed, and scroll down. It won’t be long before you’ll see a post of one of these glorious scenes. What is meaningful to us humans about looking up and out at the horizon?

I know over my lifetime, I have loved to watch sunsets over the hills of Tennessee, in the Great Smoky Mountains and at the shores of the Gulf or the Pacific Ocean. But never have I observed a sunset where I could see color of endless skyway for 360 degrees like the sunset we saw in the magnificent western sky of America only a few weeks ago. I am still trying to embrace the full message of what God was telling me that night.

Prayer:  Thank you, God, for your deep love for us that you allow us to see a glimmer of your creativity in sunrises and sunsets. Thank you for touching the hearts of skeptics through the beauty of nature’s skies. Please may they be led to You and the truth of Your love by the beauty and intricacies of Your creation.

Share:  Let’s have some fun. Please comment regarding special sunrises or sunsets you have seen in your lifetime. Together, let’s join our praise by giving God the glory for all of His magnificent creation. God is good!

You may go to my author website to see some photos of my trip:  http://www.brendaflowers.com