Wednesday, July 3, 2019

Fish, Sunsets and the Creativity of God



"Let all that I am praise the Lord.  O Lord my God, how great you are!  You are robed with honor and majesty."  
~Psalm 104:1 
This past week I had the privilege of going on a much-anticipated vacation with several college friends.  For a year, we have planned and dreamed about this week where we would celebrate our 40th birthdays that will all happen within the year.  I expected it to be fun and relaxing, but what I wasn't anticipating was for God to blow my mind with His beauty.
There were several moments on the trip when I just stood in awe and wonder of God and His creativity.  The first was on the first evening of our cruise, when we stood on the ship's upper deck and watched the sun set.  Granted, I've seen a lot of sunsets in my life, and many have been beautiful.  However, I've never seen one from the middle of the Gulf of Mexico.  The sun began its decent, and it looked to us like a gigantic yellow and pink beach ball as it hit the water's edge.  I stood there holding my breath until it disappeared.
The second awe moment I experienced was during a snorkeling adventure.  I was the only one who wanted to snorkel, so I put on all of my gear and jumped into the beautiful, blue water.  Almost immediately, I was surrounded by fish.  They seemed to be coming up and greeting me.  As I swam deeper into the reef, I began to see the creativity of God expand before me.  The fish!  There was a black fish with blue glowing dots and a black fish with bright yellow stripes.  I looked on in wonder.  And then God really made me laugh.  A fish swam by with leopard looking spots and horn-like skin over its eyes.  I began laughing out loud, which was not the best idea with a snorkel mask on.  A bit later, God made me laugh again as I was looking at the reef floor.  All of a sudden, it began to move.  A round shape had lifted up off of the floor and started moving.  It was a fish the exact color and pattern as the reef.  It was just unbelievable.
God really floored me with His creativity on this trip.  My snorkeling adventure proved to me once again the absolute existence of our creator God.  He created these wildly colorful and funny fish that in many cases no one will ever see.  Just because He could.  Because He is just that creative.
I know that because this creative God created you and I that He will continue to work creatively in and through our lives.  He may even do it with a little humor.