An Eclipse
The voice of the Lord is
powerful.
The voice of the Lord is majestic.
Psalm
29:4
All creation praises God and manifests His glory. When God
created the sun, moon, and stars on the fourth day, the voice of the Lord declared it was good.
When tourists visit Crater Lake, the Grand Canyon, or Victoria
Falls in Africa, they experience a glimpse of God’s creative power. Imagine His
pleasure as He caused Mount Mazama to explode and form Crater Lake. I have
walked the trail three times down to the lake and each trip, riding the boat on
the indigo blue water, thrills me to once again be in the middle of one of
God’s creations.
We see the power of God the Son in Scripture. Jesus instantly calmed
a fierce storm on the Sea of Galilee when the disciples thought they would
drown. He raised a grieving widow’s son from death. Jesus displayed His power
once again when He ascended out of sight into heaven as the disciples watched
their Lord return to God the Father.
In December 1968, three Apollo 8 astronauts, James Lovell,
Frank Borman, and Bill Anders had the privilege of seeing planet Earth from
outer space. I would be speechless seeing that magnificence view of one of
God’s creations from that angle. They honored God as the Creator and recited
the first ten verses of Genesis back to NASA. They read them on Christmas
Eve--how appropriate!
I watched another wonder that God enjoyed creating for His
pleasure and our amazement. He has arranged many total eclipses of the sun in the
past and for the future. I was blessed to see a total solar eclipse on August
21, 2017.
Hopefully, you were blessed as I was to see the moon’s
shadow for about an hour move in front of the sun. The shadow hid the sun for a
minute or two (depending where you watched), then for another hour slowly moved
away from the sun.
I expected the darkness to look like nighttime, but I
watched only the shadows in the yard disappear, giving the appearance of dusk.
I did not expect the temperature to drop, but the warm morning air must have
dropped at least fifteen degrees.
During the event, my friend heard a donkey bray and a
rooster crow. I heard neighbor’s
whoopees from across the street at the moment of totality. As we sat on the
porch with family, I decided it appropriate to read aloud Scripture that praises
the Lord.
I chose Psalm 9:1 I
will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous
works, and Psalm 19:1 The heavens
declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.
We do not often see God’s artistry in action like an eclipse,
though there is a total solar eclipse approximately every eighteen months
somewhere on the earth’s surface.
The sun, moon, and stars are commonplace in our sky, but an eclipse is special.
God creates beautiful events and I know He enjoys displaying His creativity.
I am thankful He shared it with me in Oregon this year.
