For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
Today I reflect on this sad sinful world. There is so much pain, anguish, hurt, betrayal, and ugliness all around. When we watch the news we see story after story of crimes, people hurting people, wars, and destruction. We scroll the Internet and see stories of how things have gone wrong, or how people delt with various situations that didn’t seem to go well. Lawsuits, trickery, getting even, retribution, everywhere we look there it is. And when we look in the mirror, we see the face behind it.
We are a sinful people. Day after day we turn further and further away from God. Many times, efforts to proclaim our love for Him fall silent in the wake of another sin. Sin holds us. We conquer one sin and another rears its ugly head. Or we think a sin is long forgotten and then we see something on TV that reminds us it’s lurking, waiting for an opportunity to emerge once again.
Then, a light shines through. A gentle fall breeze whispers a quiet tune while the colorful leaves dance in the air. We hear the soft coo of a morning dove. We smell the rain without even seeing it yet. We close our eyes feeling the sun gently touching our cheeks. We catch sight of the prism of colors off by a cloud as a rainbow forms. We remember these are His creations and He made them beautiful.
We hear a verse, God’s word, and it brings us back. Back to a conversation with Him. A deep, heartfelt conversation about how we are not deserving. We are horrible, sinful people. Yet, He sees the beauty of our heart. He sees beyond the ugliness of this world, the ugliness of sin. He sees the heart He created, and He longs to pull our heart back to Him. With gentle, loving reminders, He calls us home.
Look beyond the ugliness of this world, the sinful painful things all around us. Close our eyes and hear His gentle whispers. He is saying “I love you”. Hold tight to Him and He will bring even more beauty. The beauty of His second coming.