A Big Bang Couldn't Have Done That

ENCOURAGEMENTS: August 1, 2023

Though I don't believe in the whole "Be one with nature" mantra, I do think standing in God's creation, whether that's the beach, the mountains, a forest, etc., is a wonderful time to bask in the perfection and might of our Creator.

I was recently standing in the ocean and looking out to the horizon and realized it's the straightest line I'd ever seen. It's perfection. Man couldn't have done that. A big bang couldn't have done that. Only God could do it.

While I was out there, it also hit me how enormous the ocean truly is. According to the National Geographic Society, more than 80% of the ocean is undiscovered. And it probably never will be discovered. But don't miss this -- God still perfectly and intricately detailed and designed that 80% of the ocean. I love verse 16 in Job 38 where God is questioning Job about where he was when Creation was underway - "Have you traveled to the sources of the sea or walked in the depths of the oceans?" God has been fully present in that 80%. WOW!

I've been studying the book of Job, I wanted to share a few passages that paint an incredible reminder of just how awesome and incomparable our Creator is:

Job 26:7-11 - "He stretches the northern skies over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing. He wraps up the waters in His clouds, yet the clouds do not burst beneath their weight. He obscures the view of His throne, spreading His cloud over it. He laid out the horizon on the surface of the waters

at the boundary between light and darkness. The pillars that hold up the sky tremble, astounded at His rebuke."

Job 36:32-33 - "He covers His hands with lightning and commands it to hit its mark. The thunder declares His presence; the cattle also, the approaching storm."

Job 38:8-11: "Who enclosed the sea behind doors when it burst from the womb, when I made the clouds its garment and thick darkness its blanket, when I determined its boundaries and put its bars and doors in place, when I declared: “You may come this far, but no farther; your proud waves stop here”?"

Job 38:22-23 - "Have you entered the place where the snow is stored? Or have you seen the storehouses of hail, which I hold in reserve for times of trouble, for the day of warfare and battle?"

Job 38:25-27 - "Who cuts a channel for the flooding rain or clears the way for lightning, to bring rain on an uninhabited land, on a desert with no human life, to satisfy the parched wasteland and cause the grass to sprout?"

Job 38:34-35 - "Can you command the clouds so that a flood of water covers you? Can you send out lightning bolts, and they go? Do they report to you: “Here we are”?"

Job 38:37-38 - "Who has the wisdom to number the clouds? Or who can tilt the water jars of heaven when the dust hardens like cast metal and the clods of dirt stick together?"

Job 40:9 - "Do you have an arm like God’s? Can you thunder with a voice like His?"

One more nugget about Creation, I just have to share something I learned recently through a new Bible reading plan I'm doing...did you know Jesus was there at Creation? So was the Holy Spirit! The Trinity can be tough to understand, but check this out about the roles each being played during Creation:

• God gave the Creation command (Genesis 1:3)

• Jesus did the manual labor of creating things in response to the Father's command (John 1:3, 10)

• The Holy Spirit hovered over the creation, sustaining and approving of it all. (Genesis 1:2)

I've just been so stirred about the beauty of God so perfectly designing ever nook and cranny on Earth. And just think....if He took such care and detail in designing the world, how much more care and detail did He take in creating YOU?! Psalm 139 says that you are fearfully and wonderfully made! Thank you, Lord, for Your attention to detail!