Just Who Do We Think We Are?

I distinctly remember sitting in a church service, listening to a seasoned southern preacher lament the turn of our society away from God. At the high point of his sermon, he cried out, “Just who do we think we are?” I can still hear those words echoing through that auditorium as we all sat in stunned silence. He preached with passion, and he made a crucial point.

When I stop and think about the fact that God has created all things, I have to ask myself, “Just who do I think I am?” Yesterday afternoon I looked out our front door and marveled as a thunderstorm rolled in. I watched as, up the hill from our house, a 50-foot tree careened under the stress of a series of strong wind gusts. Raindrops soaked the ground. Lightning flashed. Thunder rumbled. Yet every day on our planet God orchestrates around 1,800 such storms, with many of them far more fierce and powerful than the one I experienced. Who of us has the gall to step outside and ignore the elements in a severe thunderstorm? No one who values living past 30. Who really has the power to control the weather? Only God. God’s creation teaches us about His character, and we would do well to listen (Ps. 136:5-9). Specific aspects of God’s creation reveal to us specific truths about God. For now, let’s consider what we can learn from looking at the heavens.

The Heavens Display God’s Power

The heavens tells us that God is powerful. God’s work in the heavens reveals His glorious nature (Ps. 19:1-6; 96:5) and His greatness (Ps. 150:2). Notice his glory and greatness on display in Psalm 104:1-4:

“Bless the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord my God, you are very great!
You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
covering yourself with light as with a garment,
stretching out the heavens like a tent.
He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;
he makes the clouds his chariot;
he rides on the wings of the wind;
he makes his messengers winds,
his ministers a flaming fire.”

Yet God in his greatness and glory still cares about you and me.

“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?”
~Psalm 8:3-4

You can know that the all-powerful Creator God is considering, not just your circumstances, but you today. He cares. More than that, he wants to speak into your life.

The Heavens Point to God’s Word

God created the heavens “by the breath of his mouth” (Ps. 33:5-6). So we need to ask this question—if almighty God can create all things by simply speaking, what can his Word do in my life? This concept, that God’s Word can transform your life, is the entire theme of Psalm 19. Verses 1-6 paint a glorious picture of God speaking to us through creation (general revelation); verses 7-11 describe the glorious benefits we enjoy when listening to God’s Word as revealed in Scripture (specific revelation). Verses 12-14 drive home the concluding application—this God who speaks through creation has spoken specifically to me in his Word, and I must be right with him. I must seek him and pray,

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in your sight,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”
~Psalm 19:14

The Heavens Reveal God’s Design

God is powerful, and God wants to speak into your life, but his methods are not random or arbitrary. He is a God of orderliness. The consistency of the sun and the moon “to mark the seasons” reveals God’s orderly design (Ps. 104:19; cf. 89:36-37). God’s design gives me hope that my life, though it seems chaotic, has a purpose. I need God to help bring order out of the chaos of my life. And he can! He is the master-designer. He can mend relationships in a broken home. He can restore peace from the loss of a loved one. He can rearrange impossible circumstances for your good and his glory.

If we were responsible to keep the world spinning, it would have spun out of control a long time ago. But we are not God. You wake up every morning and the sun still rises because God is a God of order. He is reminding us of our need for him, of our need to confess with the psalmist, “My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth” (Ps. 121:2).

When we stop and consider what God is telling about himself in creation, this blessing in Psalm 115:15 means so much more,

“May you be blessed by the Lord,
who made heaven and earth!”

As you seek the Creator of the heavens may you be blessed today.

C.P.