CBC Update
Carolyn and I have set aside Friday as our Sabbath or day off. It’s the day we reconnect with God and each other, where we rest in God and in each other’s presence.
Now that our home is fully set up and there are no more boxes to unpack, furniture to put together, or runs to Bunnings, we have been able to start exploring (and taking some photos of) the beauty that now surrounds us.
Walking together along the esplanade and past the beaches of Wanda and Cronulla is fast becoming our favourite activity. The beauty is almost overwhelming, and it speaks—shouts even—of God’s creative and awesome presence.
It is no wonder that the Psalmist declares, as he looks at the world around him and all that God has made:
“Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens.” (Psalm 8:1)
Psalms 19 is one of my favourites, where the Psalmist says:
“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 reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world…” (Psalms 19:1-4)
When was the last time you looked at a sunset or sunrise and thought of the One behind it? Or walked along the beach or in a park and been reminded of God’s presence?
On one hand, it should be effortless to simply look and notice not only the creation around us, but also the Creator behind it. Yet, for many of us, it takes all the effort we have to stop, be still, and know that God is with us.
Through the Psalmist, God the Creator invites us anew: “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalms 46:10)
But the real question is whether God is exalted in our hearts.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Ian