How Can It Be?

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding"  Job 38:4

Think, don’t react, just think for a moment about everything around you.  Take a look at the trees, the bark on the trees, the heartwood and sapwood inside of the tree, the budding flowers as new leaves are formed, the roots stretching far underground and of course the leaves on the trees.  It draws nutrients from the soil, water from earth and from the sky, carbon dioxide from the air and distributes all of this throughout the entire ecosystem of it’s structure so that every part gets exactly what it needs to survive.  It’s branches grow toward the light, it’s roots extend in every direction to provide strength and support, it’s leaves fall off and are recreated and each one is unique in it’s design.  Tell me who designed this infrastructure and ecosystem so perfectly.  Was it Pascal, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Aristotle, Socrates  . . . . .   You get my point, right? 

We know the formula for water, but can we create it?  Can you tell me how to create a single grain of sand or dirt?  Where do I go to learn how to create wood? 

There is a Creator of everything that makes up this incredible sphere called earth, and the universe around us.  He spoke it into being.  There was nothing but an expanse, He spoke and it began.  He is the only one who has created water, soil and air.  He formed the trees, the rocks, the mountains and the depths of the oceans.  He created light from nothing, to shine through the darkness.  The perfection of everything around could not just happen in such intricate detail to sustain itself in perfect harmony. 

Why do we continue to believe that we are here simply by happenchance?  Look at the oceans and the perfect flow of water to the pull of gravity and the rolling waves of the tide as it comes in.  Look at the sky in it’s infinite depths and realize that though we believe we know how far it stretches, there is no way to be sure we have seen it all.  How were the stars so perfectly placed and the the planets in an exact orbit around the sun, so as not to burn up or freeze.  The grains of sand along the shores are so numerous that man is unable to comprehend the number of such magnitude.

If indeed you continue to believe that the perfect environment for our life cycle on this planet called earth was random, then I say there is something that has blinded your acceptance of the truth.  I will always believe and can never be convinced otherwise, regardless of my age, that we were created by God with unbelievable, intricate detail, just like the air, water, beach and sky.  There is nothing about the human that is not known by Him.  He has created us to do amazing things. 

It’s time to recognize that God is God, and He made you perfectly because He doesn’t make mistakes.  You may feel unworthy of His love and attention, but you are mistaken.  For His love for you is unquenchable.  Today is your day to make use of everything He has given you.  So begin by acknowledging that He is the Creator of all things and that He indeed has a plan for you.  Today is your day to do amazing things.

 

Filling Your Bucket

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“How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!  How vast is the sum of them!  If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.  When I awake, I am still with You.” – Psalm 139:16-17

He walked across the hot beach on his tip-toes and cringed every time his foot hit the sand.  As he neared the water’s edge, the sand was damp and cooler to the touch, so his walking became normal and his demeanor changed to one of joy and happiness to be here.  With bucket and shovel in tow, he and his sister begin digging into the moist sand, and filling the buckets as the adventure of building sand castles began.  I helped Lisa set up the chairs and blanket just beyond the reach of the encroaching tide, and close enough to the kids to ensure their safety.  As they brought forth their buckets filled to the rim with sand, they dumped them near our blanket forming the corners of their soon to be castle.

Some of the sand stuck to the inside of thde bucket, and created more of a pile of sand rather than a neatly formed structure for the castle corner.  I watched as they would put the bucket back over the top of the sand and try to reshape it, but it would only make it worse.  Finally, disheartened David knocked the pile of sand over in frustration and began once again filling his bucket.  This effort repeated time after time after time, until finally he came over and explained the problem to Lisa and I, with a little bit of whining I must add.  We explained that the sand he was using was too wet and that made it stick to the bucket.  Perhaps he should clean out his bucket and get  sand from a different spot that wasn’t as wet as what he had been using.  He tried this advice and surprisingly it worked.  The forms coming from the buckets took on the shape of the bucket’s castle like design.   His architectural creativity became the focus for the next 30 minutes or so as he worked on building the walls and eventually the center structure of the castle.

I observed the frustration he suffered when the simplest particle on earth could not be controlled.  A grain of sand.  Microscopic in size, yet unbelievably dense when adjoined with other grains surrounding it.  Have you ever sat and thought about the single grain of sand?  Admittedly, I have.  Here are a few probing questions from my curious mind.
1) When was that individual, single grain of sand formed?
2) Where has it traveled around this globe, tossed by the waters tide?
3) How many sand castles has it been a part of?
4) How many feet have pressed down upon it’s microscopic form?
5) How long will it be here?

Weird, I know, but hey at least I’m thinking.  A single bucket (say 10” high, 6” wide) might hold millions of grains of sand.  As I sit on a beach and look as far as the eye can see, I am in awe by the volume of sand in any given spot.  When I was younger we dug a hole on the beach to how deep the sand was.  Our hole was no less than 4 feet deep and we had not yet run out of sand.  So with the miles and miles of beaches in the world, spanning hundreds of feet in width and several feet in depth, there are trillions and trillions of buckets of sand upon the shores around the globe.  This doesn’t even take into consideration the depths of the sea and the fact that sand covers the ocean floor for millions and millions of square miles and God only knows how many miles deep under the oceans of the world.  Taking all of this into consideration, you quickly come to the realization that the volume of grains of sand around this earth is an unimaginable, uncountable number short of infinity.

Now, read Psalm 139 again and realize that the Lord, our God, thinks of you personally more often than that number.  One could do the same exercise with the stars in the sky, and get the same result – an infinitely large number.  God is never not thinking about you.  You are His creation and despite the fact that there are 6.2 billion of us on this planet (+/-), we are each unique in His mind and thoughts.  If you are trying to fathom God in a manner known to mankind, we cannot.  He is beyond comprehension, omnipotent and omnipresent.  He is aware of all things that happen on this earth at any given moment.  Every grain of sand, every rain drop that falls, shares in the fact that they too were created by the same hand that created you and I.  Stop trying to fit God into your image, but realize that He is everywhere at all times and watching over you with a loving heart and grace filled spirit that has endured all time. 

© Sondove Enterprises, 2013
For more Daily Thoughts go to: http://sondove.blogspot.com
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The Sands of Time

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“LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.  Remind me that my days are numbered--how fleeting my life is.”   - Psalm 39:4

Walking along the beach, where the ocean waves meet the sandy shores and leave behind the residue and clues as to the mysteries of the deep.  Children play and frolic in the waves, while parents sit under umbrellas, sipping on cool drinks and laughing behind the dark lenses of their lives.  I watch as one little girl and boy use shovels and pails to create their masterpiece and let their imagination take them to placed that only exist in fairy tales.  They run from their construction site to the waters edge, scooping the good wet sand, and hurry back to add it to their castle supporting walls.  The structure takes shape as the waves inch closer and closer.  Frantically, they attempt to build a moat around the castle to keep the water from overtaking their creation.  But, alas, the salt water and foamed edge of the ocean’s mighty power over takes the grains of sand that have been masterfully piled and carved in the medieval style.  The sand softens and begins to float away as the walls fall and the castle crumbles into a mound of wet sand once again.

As you walk along a beach it’s easy to get lost in the fact that there are billions and billions of small grains of sand underneath every single foot step.  How deep is the sand on the beach?  If you dig straight down at what point do you no longer shovel sand?  One could scoop a mound of sand into a small red bucket and spend days counting the actual grains of sand contained therein.  In some instances, you could stand in one spot on a beach and see for miles along the coastline, the seemingly endless contour and bending sands of a beach front.  If one bucket contains thousands or perhaps millions of grains of sand, how many must exist along a single stretch of beach?

The sands of the beach are ever shifting.  From the winds blowing the smooth grains in the hot dry weather to the waves rolling over and stirring them from it’s incredible source of power.  Just like the life you and I are living each day.  The forces of nature, of mankind and of your Creator are impacting your every step in this world.  Each day is a new blessing to carve out a path through this life as we roll and tumble through each onslaught of problems and waves crashing down around us.  As much as you think you are in control, you must come to realize that we are an ecosystem of billions and billions of people all moving through a 24 hour cycle called “day” and the small decisions that are made in the mind of one will have a ripple effect through all.  The fact that we get so overwhelmed with this life, and think little about the life beyond this one is still amazing to me.

As a grain of sand sets upon a beach, so is your life in comparison to eternity.  The grain of sand is microscopic and represents the entire span of your life on this earth, while the beach in it’s massive extent and glory represents the eternal time scale to be with the Creator of Heaven and Earth.  It’s so easy to get lost focusing on the single grain of sand to completely miss the beach and be washed away in the process.  Focus your thoughts and efforts on what lies beyond this life and be filled with His plan to maximize your stay in this temporary place.

             

© Sondove Enterprises, 2013
For more Daily Thoughts go to: http://sondove.blogspot.com