Stop, Look, & Take Notice

By now you may be sick and tired of hearing about "The Great American Eclipse."

I know I was -even before the big event occurred last Monday. It was all over the media and social networks. Glasses. Timing. Partial. Total. Path of Totality. Traffic jams. Hotel rooms. Farmers renting out spots in their fields. Schools closing.

Honestly, I could not comprehend what the big deal was. Yeah, I got that an eclipse is a natural occurrence that only happens every so many years. But jeez, enough was enough.

Then it happened.

The sky changed colors. The temperature dropped. The world stood still -kinda. Everyone stopped, came outside and looked up. Regardless of profession or pay grade, people took notice.

And it was amazing.

Most of us who saw it, had never seen anything like it, nor are likely to see anything like it again. Even a week later I am still at a loss of words to try and describe what I saw. It was mesmerizing and unforgettable.

The idea that kept coming to my mind during the minute plus of "totality" was God's glory. What a mighty display of His glory!

Then I thought about how His glory is described in the Bible. I had just finished teaching in the student ministry about how God's glory descended onto the tabernacle in Exodus. Not even Moses could approach it. It was so bright and overwhelming. When Moses had asked to see God's glory, God placed him in the cleft of a rock and only let him glimpse Himself from behind...

My thoughts then quickly shifted to Jesus' return when we will ALL once again, stop in the middle of our routines, look to the sky and take notice finding ourselves awe struck. I will never again imagine the second coming without recalling my vantage point of the eclipse that day...

I felt small, but at the same time, so very close to our God. I wanted to worship.

There was no "cosmic coincidence" that day. It was a natural occurrence brought about by a super-natural God. Like the rest of creation, it revealed a little more about Him- His greatness, His creativity, His personality....

Now, I want to hear more about the eclipse. I have read more about it in different settings and have engaged in conversation after conversation just to hear different people's reactions. My husband and I are already talking about traveling to see the next one in seven years. The hype and hoopla were all justified.

Because I could see God's glory in the eclipse, it created a longing in me to see more, to experience more of it, more of Him. I believe that is exactly what God created it to accomplish . . . To get a glimpse of Him that generates a desire to gain more of Him . . .

I can think of other experiences in my life that have generated that kind of response . . . gazing into the Grand Canyon, catching my breath through the icy wonderland of a newly fallen snow, feeling small standing in the white sand while the sun sets streaks remarkable, vibrant colors across the sky of the shoreline with the wave's white caps joining in the calliope of sensations.

Because of the rarity of the eclipse, no one could take it for granted, look past it or even ignore it. Yes, plenty of people still wrote it off, but the Bible tells us that people will always do that until the day that they can't anymore, when every knee will bow . .

What are the happenings, the places in God's nature where you are simply compelled to stop, look to the sky and take notice? Where you can't help but search for words as you stand in awe, unable to utter anything but "Oh God" and not be taking His name in vain?

God, open our eyes to see more of your glory! Forgive me for needing a once-in-a-lifetime event to bring me to this place of longing for even more of you .  .  .