I was so blessed to open up my One Year Bible and start at Genesis 1. Isn't it true that we gravitate towards fresh starts and new beginnings? I have to admit, it was time for the Rose Bowl parade and I love our annual family tradition of "oooing and aaahhhing" the floats made with 100% flowers and seeds. My mother-in-law turned me on to it and now high-definition TV makes the details of each float a visual feast. But...I needed quiet time with the Lord. After walking through a darkly canopied, "wilderness" experience these last couple of years, I crave the Lord's Word, His Presence, and His soft voice as never before.As He promised, He's a faithful rewarder to those who diligently seek Him (Heb.11:6). There, tucked between verses I have read over and over again for years, day one of creation - Gen.1:3 "Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light." It's not until the fourth day that the sun, moon and stars were created.
In our life times, we have only known the sun to be the sole source of day and night, morning and evening. The comfort I found this morning was in the fact that God didn't NEED the sun to provide light, but He created it as a vessel of His glory that is used continually to touch our lives. If the sun were gone, as it was before it was created, God Himself is fully capable of providing light, darkness, day, night, morning and evening. He is All-Sufficient, the Self-Existing One.
He doesn't NEED me to provide food for the birds off our back deck because there is two feet of snow on the ground today. He doesn't NEED me to tell my neighbor that there is a God Who sent His Son Jesus to die for her sins. He doesn't NEED us to give a tithe to the church to help spread the gospel and support His work. He would send food for the birds, speak to my neighbor's heart through some other means and provide finances from a multitude of other sources if I stopped. But He allows us to be a part of His plan in this world and be a recipient of the joy that comes through giving and to actually receive an eternal reward when done for His glory. He has no NEED for vessels of His glory, but I crave to be one...
So if the sun went out today...do we have The Son, the True Light of life? If there is no physician available to help...do we have Jehovah-Rapha, the God that Heals? If there is no way to reach a lost child, parent, neighbor or people...do we have prayer that is an unstoppable vehicle to deliver help from God to whomever may be in need?
I love that He made light, said that it was good, and has only used a small star called the sun to be the secondary provider of light for us. The Word tells us that one star differs from another in glory in 1 Cor.15:41, right?
Daniel 12:3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.
Shine on friends...He doesn't need us, but He sure loves to use us!
