My first blog... the moon and the sun!

So last week while driving to work, I heard a song that I’ve heard hundreds of times… Starry Night by Chris August.  The specific lyric that caught my attention is “I’m giving my life to the only one who makes the moon reflect the sun”.  I started thinking about how their point was how we are supposed to reflect the Son...the Son of God. The thoughts kept building and building… that is a pretty big responsibility for me and anyone who claims to be a Christ follower.  I am called to let my faith be known, which means I also represent Jesus Christ to everyone I encounter.  I have an ichthus (fish) and cross tattoo.  I don’t even have to say a word for folks to know what I believe.  Frankly, that’s why I got them.  But that also means that I’m looked at “differently”… measured to a different standard. 

No one is expected to be perfect all the time, but I have to realize that I am always being graded. Not necessarily by my failures… I fail a lot… but definitely by my reactions.  Did I get really mad when things went wrong or did I look for God’s provision, knowing that it’ll all work out in the end?  Am I actually joyful regardless of the circumstances?  Did I look for someone else to blame when I was really the cause?  Did I act like a victim when I was wronged or did I offer forgiveness?  Do I expect perfection in others?  Did  I put expectations on folks to be like me?  Or did I accept people for who they are… not judge?  The world would say that I am a victim.  I should deflect blame.  I should get revenge.  Even some sects of religion say I should condemn.  But that’s not what the Bible says.

I’m also graded on my choices.  Can I quote movie lines from The Princess Bride and Star Wars… but can I quote the Bible?  Do I always catch that TV episode… Castle, The Big Break, Warehouse 13… but do I read the Bible every day?  What do I post on Facebook? Is it portraying the God I claim to love?  How do I spend my money? The world says that my gratification is the most important thing.  But that’s not what the Bible says.

Now don’t get me wrong here. This whole train of thought was a big encouragement to me.  My obedience to God over the past year or two has brought me more in line with God’s will than ever before in my life.  In respect to all of those questions, I can say that I do well more times than I do poorly… and all I can expect is that I continue to improve every day.  I have a daily quiet time… some days more quiet than others.  I pray a lot and include a lot of you in those prayers.  I have folks in my life that I share deep dark secrets. I admit my hurts, habits and hang-ups to them, to God and myself.  I’ve been able to let go of a lot of baggage… a lot of shame… a lot of resentment.  I’ve been able to accept the role God has placed me in.  What that means is still becoming more and more clear as I’ve started to listen instead of doing all the talking.  A little piece of evidence of this is coming up in just a few paragraphs, so let’s get back to the song and where that little lyric took my thoughts…

Then I noticed the moon.  It was pretty bright, almost a full moon. Another question popped into my head. What happens during an eclipse?  The earth gets in the way of the sun and the moon no longer receives anything to reflect.  Wow!!! The earth… the world… blocks the moon… us… from seeing and therefore reflecting the sun… the SON!!!  It was so obvious, but yet I didn’t see it until that moment!

Any of you who know me also know that I follow rabbit trails until there’s no trace of paw prints.  So I kept going… it dawned on me that God gave us this naturally occurring event to demonstrate his message and meaning… a physical and huge demonstration… not just words in a book! How great is it that He used the things that define our reality to show such a simple premise?  Any time I’m in the woods or see a sun rise, I can see God’s beauty and majesty, but this is the first time that I’ve seen this kind of message in action… imagery on the most grand scale!

Romans 1:20 - For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

When this came over me, I felt a bunch of different emotions. 

First, insignificant and unworthy… God used His endless, magnificent power to set this in motion and manipulate what defines my existence to show all of us mere mortals this simple, straightforward thing.

Second, important and relevant… He did this for me! While I was driving down a relatively insignificant road, to a relatively insignificant job, on a not all that special day, He gave this epiphany to little ole me. Maybe I’m not as insignificant as I thought… at least to Him!

So later in the day I started thinking, if I’m significant enough to get this message from God, then what am I supposed to do with it.  Writing this is the first thing that came to mind… to share my thoughts with you by writing this out and posting it. Since some of my friends (B-Rad, D-Weezy, T-Lite) have started blogging, I’ve felt led to add to the internet brain-trust, but I’ve just never followed through.  Today, as with most situations where I finally give in to God’s promptings, He set me up with 3 hours waiting on a delayed plane, a 3 hour flight and a pesky, nagging urge.  So this is the result… enjoy! 

As I wrote this, a few more thoughts popped up. Ever been out in the woods away from the city lights during a new moon?  You can’t see your hand in front of your face.  Ever been out there during a full moon?  You can almost read by the light of that moon.  Pulling this string can wait for the next blog entry… stay tuned!!!

BTW, if you want to see more, bug me!  If you miss reading someone else’s blog, bug them! If you know someone who needs encouragement to share, do it!  As I said above, God expects us to represent Him… sometimes that means being the voice, hands and feet to complete the message that the Holy Spirit is trying to get through someone’s stubborn head… possibly my head, cause we all know how stubborn I can be!