Focus

As you quiet yourself for this brief time, be willing to be open to God in whatever way that may take place.

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Read

Psalm 8 (NRSV)
To the leader: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.

O LORD, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
to silence the enemy and the avenger.
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars that you have established;
what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
mortals that you care for them?

Yet you have made them a little lower than God,
and crowned them with glory and honor.
You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under their feet,
all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
O LORD, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!

 

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Reflect

When is the last time you stopped and marveled at God’s creation? When I was a teenager at church camp, one of my favorite things on the schedule was what we called “Night Sounds.” Before heading back to our cabins for the night, we would gather on the bridge over the lake, and being still and silent, we would listen for a few minutes before someone led a devotion and prayer. I’d listen to the sound of crickets and bullfrogs, and watch ripples form on the water’s surface, caused by the wind or fish below. On cloudless nights, I’d stare up at a vast, starry sky…and I would marvel at God’s wonders.

Somehow, in those moments, I would feel very small, yet very close to God. Like the Psalmist, I would wonder, “Who am I that You are mindful of me, O Lord?” And yet, God is mindful of me, and of you. This God, who has created the heavens and the earth, who has created stars, and crickets, and bullfrogs, and fish decided to create you and me, as well. Not only have we been created, but we’ve been created in the likeness of God. We have been placed in and are a part of God’s good creation. And, if you’re like me, when you stop and marvel at what God has created, you can’t help but see creation, including yourself, as God sees us: good, and worth caring for, and worth creating. When is the last time you stopped and marveled?

Maybe you should.

 

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Pray

Creator God, give us eyes to see Your creation the way that You see it. May we learn to better care for Your creation, and may we learn to better care for one another, all being made in Your image. Continue to shower and drench us in Your love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Go with God!