Creator God

This particular summer has lent me the opportunity to wonder at the exquisite creativity of God in His creation.  And "from the mountains to the valleys to the oceans white with foam", I have seen with my own eyes how God has truly bestowed a bounty of natural blessings upon our country.

At the beginning of June, I was able to travel for the first time to see the desert beauty of Arizona.  Though we were there for business, my friends and I snuck away just long enough to travel the scenic stretch of land that leads the big city of Phoenix through winding mountain roads toward the Grand Canyon.

Before we arrived at the Canyon, I found a devotional written by John Piper about God the Creator.  I was (and still am) so deeply grateful for reading it before I viewed the splendor of that natural wonder.

Several weeks later, I found myself nestled into a hammock while the salty breezes of the Gulf of Mexico curled around my little spot of paradise.  The beach is by far my favorite place on earth.  Only moments need pass before the white powder sand buffs away the stress and chaos I allow into my head.  I live just minutes away from this experience, so I often wonder aloud why I am not always wandering a shoreline.

The beach reminds me of my Creator God, too.  And this past weekend of swim and sun reminded me again of that devotional.  Because I haven't posted in a while and therefore probably need a little more time to build back my writing muscles, I just want to use this platform to share pictures of what has been precious to me these last few weeks alongside the eloquent and challenging words of Mr. Piper.

from "God's Pleasure in Creation" by John Piper

"God rejoices in the works of creation because they point us beyond themselves to God himself.

God means for us to be stunned and awed by his work of creation.  But not for its own sake. He means for us to look at his creation and say:  If the mere work of his fingers (just his fingers! Psalm 8:3) is so full of wisdom and power and grandeur and majesty and beauty, what must this God be like in himself!

These are but the backside of his glory, as it were, darkly seen through a glass.  What will it be to see the Creator himself!  Not his works! A billion galaxies will not satisfy the human soul.  God and God alone is the soul's end.  Jonathan Edwards expressed it like this:

The enjoyment of God is the only happiness 

with which our souls can be satisfied.  

To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, 

is infinitely better than the most pleasant accomodations here.  

These are but shadows; but God is the substance.  

These are but scattered beams; but God is the sun.  

These are but streams; but God is the ocean.

This is why Psalm 104 (vs. 31-34) comes to a close like this, with a focus on God himself.  In the end it will not be the seas or the mountains or the canyons or the water spiders or the clouds or the great galaxies that fill our hearts to breaking with wonder and fill our mouths with eternal praise.  It will be God."