The Reminder

Do you not love the sunshine: the warm, yellow brightness that bathes our planet; giving heat, life and joy to us all?  We all welcome it and, after a bit of extended night time, the day is returning, lengthening.   The rising of the sun is a certainty for all of us here on earth.  We know it will happen, and actually depend on it to occur no matter what.  There is really nothing we can do to cause it to rise or stop it from rising.  Scientifically, of course, the sun is stationary, and we are moving.  Turning each 24 hours, this planet we travels through the skies and we make our way around the sun.  Still, the sun does appear to rise out on the horizon and travel across the blue.  Every day begins and each day ends with the sun and its progress through the heavens. 

I was considering this as I was meditating on the words of Jeremiah. 

        “The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,

           For His compassions never fail.

           They are new every morning;

           Great is Your faithfulness.”

How these words describing God are evidenced in the patterns of creation.  The world abounds with glimpses of a loving creator, of a faithful God.  The sun is but one such clue to Who He is and what He has done.   Consider the sun, the faithful rising and setting, which can be predicted.  The path of the earth around the sun, which is consistent year after year, century after century is a picture of constancy.  The time and type of tides that wash the coast lands are predictable and regular.  People who live on the oceans can depend on the tides to do as they have always done.  

Just these few facts of creation indicate to me a creator that approves of dependability, and is dependable Himself.  Since the creation speaks of the God who made it, He must have some appreciation for the trait and exhibit it Himself.  The words penned by Jeremiah the prophet show his joy in seeing the God of the tides and the sunrise as the dependable God, the faithful one.  But even as the sun is new each day, so are the love and faithfulness of our God.  He does not run out of love.  He does not forget. And every reliable sunrise is a celebratory reminder for us that He is there, He is real, He is true and He is faithful.  When you doubt, look to the sunrise.