God’s Creation on Display

This week, I decided to ride my bike to work, and it couldn’t have been a more perfect morning. Shortly into my ride, I encountered my first challenge, the “temporary lights” managing traffic on a single lane—there was a definite sense of anxious anticipation from the waiting drivers! My biggest challenge came when I had to pedal up the hill on Waihi Road, and I can tell you, I was relieved to reach the top. The journey from Bethlehem to church is such a gift from God. Riding along the waterfront, with Mt Maunganui in view and the energy from runners, walkers, bikers, birds, and the morning traffic all around, made for a refreshing start to the day. Truly, this is God’s creation on display.

As Psalm 19:1-6 reminds us:

“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. In the heavens, God has pitched a tent for the sun. It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.”

Genesis 1 also beautifully recounts the creation story:

On the first day, God created light and separated it from darkness. On the second day, He created the sky. The third day brought land and vegetation, followed on the fourth by the moon, sun, and stars. On the fifth day, God filled the waters with living creatures and the sky with birds. On the sixth, He made land animals and, most wonderfully, human beings in His image: “Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created mankind in his own image; in the image of God, He created them; male and female, He created them.”

When I shared this reflection with the community lunch group, I overheard someone mutter, “Yeah, right… God loves me.” Her self-esteem was so low that it seemed impossible to believe anyone—let alone God—could truly love her.

Friends, as we finish our study of Job this week, let me remind you: YES, the God of creation—the awesome, mind-blowing Creator of mountains, oceans, and skies—does indeed love you. He wants to be your friend and your comforter through every situation. Just as we find at the end of Job, God is present with us, faithful to care for us, and committed to walking with us through our darkest hours.