By Pastor Don Schatz

Look Up!

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“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”
Psalm 19:1 New International Version

An early morning walk turns into a true delight when the skies light up with the glory of God.  A surprise morning rainbow warms the heart, captures the imagination, brings a song of praise to the Lord to the heart, mind, and maybe even the lips.

One has to look up to see the sky.  Obvious, right?  But when out for a walk, or a hike in the mountains, we typically look down, or around us at eye level.  On my early morning walks I have found that looking up gives me lots more to see.  All kinds of clouds taking all sorts of shapes.  The sunlight plays with various lighting.  The contrasts in colors and shades of light are amazing.  God’s handiwork indeed.

And of course, one must be looking up to see a rainbow.  The rainbow is both a reminder of God’s promise to Noah and a means for the skies to declare the glory and handiwork of the Lord our God.  God is a God of promise, of course.  So, the promise and the declaration of rainbow and sky are one and the same!

On this particular morning, half-a-dozen people stopped me and asked if I saw the rainbow!  It not only declared God’s glory, but it broke down the normal walking barriers (don’t make eye contact and don’t speak) and created community.  God’s blessings have a way of doing that–work multiple wonders all at once.  Our God is a God of wonders.

A final wonder for today is that we get to be rainbow and sky in the lives of others.  Family, friends, Christian brothers and sisters, co-workers, classmates, neighbors, and even strangers.  Maybe they won’t be looking up.  But the bright light of God’s glory and handiwork of grace can shine in us and through us upon them.

Look up today!

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado.