I had the opportunity to visit Alaska this week and was impressed by the natural habitat of Anchorage and its surroundings. I found myself taking pictures and videos every opportunity I got. Right from just before we landed, I took many pictures of the landscape, because I know that a picture is worth a thousand words if I must describe this beautiful place. In the end I resigned to the fact that even a picture cannot adequately capture the essence and the beauty of the place. One clear situation was when we saw this Moose and every one of us in the tour bus were screaming because it was a sight to behold. I took many pictures only to find that my photos are not as exciting as what we saw.
Having seen the habitat, my thought went naturally to the power and glory of the one who created such a beautiful place with all the wonderful creatures of nature that inhabit it. On our first night, I woke up at 3:30am only to find that there is already daylight at this time of the morning. By the second and third day I realized that we were having about twenty hours or more of daylight daily. Then I was told it is a complete opposite during the winter season. A cursory look at the mountains in the far distance reveals this gleaming white snow that seems to get whiter as the sun shines brighter. What about the peace and serenity that I encountered at the top of a mountain called Flattop mountain? Standing on that mountain top all the thoughts in my mind were how great our God is. And as were descending the hill, at the motorable part, there by the side of the road, just standing there was a Moose, as huge as they get, and I immediately felt the fear of God rush through me. But each moment and each encounter just confirmed to me that indeed, all heavens declare the glory of our living God. There is no doubt that the amazing beauty of Alaska does indeed declare the glory of the living God.
“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 display knowledge” (Psalm 19:1–2). Each time one witnesses the amazing beauty of nature that God has blessed us with on this mother earth, the only response we can have is praise. When we witness the order, the beauty, and the forethought that accompanied our created world, we are convinced that there is a creator behind all of these, and we also note that the character of this creator, wise, good, gracious, mighty, glorious etc., is never in doubt. Apostle Paul in Romans 1:20, says “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” The eternal power and divine nature of our God are so much evident in His creation that it ought to always lead us to Him. Every aspect of nature reveals the glory of God. In Anchorage, Alaska, that glory was confirmed again for me as the Spirit of God led me to just think about His majesty.
When Moses asked that the Lord should show him His glory, all God had to do was manifest His presence through a public display of any of His characteristic attributes. God chose to reveal His glory in part and Moses bowed and worshipped Him. God did not show Moses the fullness of His glory because no one can see the fullness of God’s glory and live. This is how it is when God directs our path and we come across some of the wonderful works of His hands. Just imagine how confounded we are anytime we are confronted with another side of nature that we have not seen before. We experience the power and nature of God anew. His greatness is confirmed for us once again. And that is when our spirit should sing “You are big, big, big; great, great, great; large, large, large”. This is because we even run out of adjectives to describe the little we have experienced about God. The song by Chris Tomlin, titled “How great is our God” should typify our response whenever we are confronted with the greatness of our creator. So, my brothers and sisters, each time we look up to the heavens, or look around, everywhere and anywhere, be reminded that His glory shows forth in all His creation. The heavens declare the glory of God. When we see this glory let us acknowledge our great and mighty God even as we bow down in His praise. That knowledge that we serve a loving, powerful, eternal God should serve to moderate how we live our lives, and lead us on the path of life everlasting, even as we live in absolute obedience and adoration of Him.
May 30, 2021 – Pastor Simbo Odunaiya.
