Did you hear about the Great North American Eclipse in August 2017? I know it sounds simple – the moon crossed in front of the sun – but it was a very exciting day. I avoided the tourists by staying home to experience 99% of a total eclipse. I had read that it would be a remarkable experience, but I was unprepared for how impossible it would be to capture the eclipse in words or pictures. The sun darkened slowly throughout the morning, and our automatic porch lights flicked on. The air became chilly. Birds and bugs grew quiet, confused at the signs of nighttime. Beams of sunlight passing through the trees were transformed into crescent shapes. Most amazing of all, the air around us begin to shimmer with wavy shadows as if we were underwater.
I can tell you what we saw, but I can’t possibly explain what it was like to see it. As the moon crossed in front of the sun, I had an unreasonable desire to ignore all the stern warnings about protecting my vision and stare right into the light. (I didn’t, but I thought about it!) The sun is 400 times larger than the moon, but it is also 400 times farther away from Earth. From where I stood in my driveway, they appeared to be perfectly aligned. The scale of such perfection millions of miles apart was simply unimaginable. Scientists call it a mathematical coincidence, but to me it felt like God was showing off His glory!
The universe is stunning not just because it is beautiful, but because it reveals so much about our Creator’s power.
As surely as He cares about the details of the wide open universe, he cares about the details of all the human hearts on Earth. He knows us in intimate detail, and His love is greater than we can imagine!
But ask the beasts, and they will teach you;
the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;
or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you;
and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
Who among all these does not know
that the hand of the Lord has done this?
In his hand is the life of every living thing
and the breath of all mankind.
Job 12:7-10 ESV
Devotion by Kristi Moore
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