The eclipse of August 2017 was an incredible sight to see. I was curious and startled, not only by the blazing glory and sheer power of the eclipse but also by the reactions of the people in attendance. As I read of the event and watched the coverage on the local news, I was shocked to learn about the large amounts of money and time people had spent on this brief event. They were people looking for meaning and purpose, only for it to last 90 minutes and then be over. They were people observing the event at a frenzied level of worship and amazement, but missing the person who MADE the sun. No one goes to the Grand Canyon and says, “How great I am”; no one should have watched the eclipse and said, “Wow, aren’t I wonderful!” They missed the glory of the Lord. “The heavens declare the glory of God, the universe displays His handiwork,” but the people I saw had exchanged the glory of the Lord to worship the creation itself. As Pastor John Piper has illustrated, it’s as if a man loved and worshipped his wedding ring but missed the joy and beauty of his wife. It was empty, sad, and regretful.
The next total eclipse that we will be able to see across our nation will be in 2024; let us not miss the glory of God. But we don’t have to wait until then to see Him. Every day the creation pours forth testimony and witness to His power and goodness and beauty. We can see Him in the stars and flowers and changing of the seasons, the power of the hailstorms, the stillness of the river, the gentle rolling of the hills. NOT that He is in those elements, but that He made them and sustains them. We can see and hear and know God through his artistry and craftsmanship. His creation is His revelation to us, that He exists. Let us not settle for these wonders in themselves, but look deeper at the wonder of the Lord who created them.