Revealed

        It's so beautiful outside today. After the crazy thunderstorm we had a few days ago, things are finally starting to cool down a bit in Southeast Texas. That is, instead of highs in the 100's, they are now in the mid-90's. But in the mornings, between 7:00 and 10:00 or so, it is just so incredibly beautiful outside.

        I am constantly amazed at God's creation. During that wicked thunderstorm that terrorized our little community Monday, Vanessa and I stepped outside and just gazed into the clouds. We watched the lights dash across the sky, listened to the sound of millions of tiny rain droplets drumming on the ground, and smelled the freshness of the air in the breeze. The colors in the sky were just phenomenal. We observed wind strong enough to bend our two-year-old trees almost 90 degrees over, but then those trees just popped right back into their places. We heard the heavens speak in rumbles and swift cracks - it was like they were just declaring the glory and authority of God Almighty. I even remember making the comment to Vanessa, "It's like we're in a movie or something." I pictured an elegantly dressed God on His podium, conducting this symphony of nature - a drizzling foundation, wind-blown arpeggiations, and climactic strikes, rolls, and flashes. It really was amazing. It gets me every time.

I bet that's what David pictured too...

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky proclaims the work of His hands." 

(Psalm 19:1)

        It baffles me how some can take a look into nature, into creation, and NOT see the presence of an Almighty God - chalking its beauty and precision up to chance, devoid of purpose or design. It's not an angry feeling on my part, but a longing feeling. Sometimes I wonder, "Are they looking at the same sky I am? Do they see/hear/smell the same things I do?" I wish they could see what I'm seeing. I wish they could understand what I have come to understand. Nature displays the "Presence of a Hidden God."

        Right now, I'm reading Dr. Kennedy's (with Jerry Newcombe) "The Presence of a Hidden God." In Chapter One, the author tells the true story of a Christian astronomer (Athanasius Kircher) and his aitheist friend:



        Kircher constructed a working model of the Solar System in his study - it was intricately and precisely built. His atheist friend walked in and exclaimed, "WOW! That's amazing! Who made it?!" Kircher replied, "No one. It made itself." "That's absurd," the friend said. "You don't really expect me to believe that do you?" 
        Kircher said, "No I don't. But what's even more absurd is that's what you believe about the real solar system which is vastly more complex than this simple little model."





        Many times we think of God as unsearchable, unknowable, or "hidden." But He has plainly revealed His eternal attributes through what He has made. Now don't get me wrong - nature is NOT God, and God is not contained within it... but He is generally knowable through what He has made. Paul wrote about this in Romans 1:19-20:

"What can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. From the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what He has made."

        The point of this blog is not to refute atheism. It's to make an appeal... When you get a free moment, step away from your computer. Walk outside. Look up in the sky and observe what God has made. Think about the power He must have to accomplish this. Then think about the creativity and beautiful imagination it took to conceive it. Look around at the trees and the grass. Close your eyes and feel the breeze. Smell the freshness of His creation. Listen to the birds and other animals singing and making their distinctive sounds. "Take it all in," as they say. Then just think - all of this - all you can see, hear, feel, and smell - declares His immense glory.

It is the presence of a revealed God. Isn't it amazing?


Grace and Peace,
Tony