I spent some time yesterday on a video call with my precious granddaughters. Sophia will soon be three; she would especially want you to know that fact and one of her favorite games right now is hide-and- seek. Yesterday she “hid” by burying her head in the sofa cushions and putting her bunny blanket over her head. The game was even more fun when grandma (me, via my face on the cell phone) got to join in the fun and hide with her. I think I may also have been face down in the cushions as well since that was all I could see. But I could hear the giggles and squeals when Daddy found “us”. Such a joy!
I was reminded this morning of one of my favorite G. K. Chesterton quotes. It is a bit long, but I would like to share it with you.
“The thing I mean can be seen, for instance, in children, when they find some game or joke that they specially enjoy… Because children have abounding vitality, because they are in spirit fierce and free, therefore they want things repeated and unchanged. They always say, “Do it again”; and the grown-up person does it again until he is nearly dead. For grown-up people are not strong enough to exult in monotony. But perhaps God is strong enough to exult in monotony. It is possible that God says every morning, “Do it again” to the sun; and every evening, “Do it again” to the moon. It may not be automatic necessity that makes all daisies alike; it may be that God makes every daisy separately, but has never got tired of making them. It may be that He has the eternal appetite of infancy; for we have sinned and grown old, and our Father is younger than we. The repetition in Nature may not be a mere recurrence; it may be a theatrical ENCORE.”
Since my husband has been home more recently dealing with some family issues, we have begun an evening ritual of watching the sun set. We even bought a park bench so we could sit facing west and watch the ENCORE of God each evening over the valley below our hilltop. It is amazing that no two sunsets are the same and some of the most spectacular happen when the sky is troubled with storms. Yet each evening He does it again!
I think I need to let some of this childish anticipation creep over into my spiritual life. I find this generation to be so jaded, so sure that there is nothing new under the sun. I want to share a wink with God and say “Do it again!” Send the movements of God I remember from my childhood! Movements of conviction and power, when people’s lives were so dramatically changed that no one seemed beyond the grip of grace. Heal bodies and souls so that the watching world will see your glory! What could we see if we would only ask and believe?
However, I feel the rebuke in my spirit when the Creator of the universe looks down at mere mortals who think there is “nothing new under the sun”; while every evening viewing a uniquely glorious sunset. Once again the voice of God echoes from the ancient book of Job, Chapter 38
(God speaking) I will question you, and you make it known to me.
4“Where
were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding…
7when the morning stars
sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Psalm 19:1 states, “The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”
God says even this, Himself revealed through nature, is enough or us to know Him.
Romans 1:19 “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”
I ask God to show Himself to those I love again. So He lets there be another sunset. ENCORE!