I am not a morning person. Not at all! And especially on Monday mornings, after an often very busy weekend, it is really hard for me to get up. This morning was no different.
I have a bad habit of looking down while I walk. (I tend to be clumsy so looking down helps me avoid tripping over my own feet.) And as I’m walking, I’m thinking of all I need to do instead of noticing the beauty of God’s creation around me. There have been times when flowers around my house have been in bloom for a while before I actually take time to notice them. I’ve been trying to make myself become more conscious of those things.
I have a 30 minute drive to my work location so I do have some time to be out a little bit before getting confined to an office for most of the day. I’ve been trying to get myself to notice the sky more during that drive. This morning I noticed the various shades of colors in the morning sky and how those colors changed the more the sun came up.
In the distance away from the sun, there were some low clouds that still looked grey. Then those greys began to change, with barely a tinge of pink before the various shades of blue slowly began to appear. The first shade of blue was still very pale, almost ashen. But gradually it became a soft baby blue that then blended into a translucent, watery blue. As the blue sky then became a deeper shade, the sun was rising above the horizon, revealing the full depth of a royal blue that seemed to awaken all the feelings of awe and splendor at the beauty of creation. Looking into the then solid blue that seemed fathomless changed my morning into a time of worshipping the One who is seated in the heavens and will one day return from that sky to take me home.
“Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.” Psalm 36:5 (NIV)
“‘The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all peoples see his glory.” Psalm 97:6 (NIV)
As I took in the wonders of the changing blue sky, I thought of how much my life can be compared to those changes. Sometimes I feel like I am covered with a cloud of oppression. Everything seems dark and empty. Those times are when I’ve distanced myself from God. Then I’ll start feeling a small dash of hope, a light tinge to the darkness, when I begin to lift my heart to the Son.
As I start looking toward that Light, my eyes begin to see more clearly the depth of His love. Then when I am fully gazing into His glory, a sight that is endless, my heart sings out with praise. I know that although I have completely given myself back to Him, and I am seeking to see all of Him that I can see, His mercy is as fathomless as the vivid blue of the sky.
It’s no wonder that the Psalmist spoke of the heavens in many of his hymns. Here are just a couple I really like.
Psalm 19:1-6 (NIV)
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. 3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. 4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. 5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. 6 It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.
Psalm 8:1-4 (NIV)
1 Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. 2 Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. 3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?
When I finally got to my office after that drive, I was no longer dreading the morning. I still had that rush of emotions from seeing the changing sky and realizing how God created all of that just for us. I may still not be a morning person, but when I remind myself to keep looking for the Son, those Monday morning blues take on a whole new meaning.