Do you ever long for a miracle? I do. But sometimes I lose sight of the miracle I’m daily living.
Not long ago I was reading from Hebrews 10 and paused for a while on this verse:
“Just think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to us,” (v.29).
One of the greatest dangers to our souls is when we begin to think of the the sacrifice of Jesus, the grace of God, as something common, ordinary. Often unintentionally, we set our hearts and minds to cruise control. We go through the motions. Our senses become dull. We exchange the glory of God for lesser things, (Romans 1:23).
I watched the sunrise this morning. It’s a regular habit of mine, and I can never get enough! I often snap a dozen pictures because each moment is so brilliant, so radiant, I want to capture them all.
Common, ordinary
In months past I had somehow gotten out of the practice. Had it become ordinary? Had the sun stopped shining in its full majesty each day? Not by any means. But perhaps it had become ordinary to me. My morning ritual faded away, and I lost sight of the sun’s splendor.
Therein lies the danger to our hearts! Does God and His glorious grace ever diminish? No, never! But what happens when I stop intentionally beholding His glory? What happens when I slip into cruise control and His grace becomes common? What happens when His holiness doesn’t stir my heart and light a fire in my soul?
God, in His grace, called me back to the sunrise again. And as I take in the radiant sky morning after morning, I ponder: Is a sunrise ever ordinary? Is its beauty ever common?
Never. In my regular spot on the porch each day I eagerly take in the sunrise, moment by moment, hoping to internalize each aspect of its beauty. I witness the miracle of a new day, new mercies, new grace.
We’re often longing for miracles, and we lose sight of the miracle we’re daily living. Out of His fullness we have all received grace upon glorious grace (John 1:16). We’ve got to stop seeing His grace as merely a given. Yes, it is a given — He extravagantly, lavishly, generously pours His grace upon us day by day. But His grace is more than a given; it’s truly the miracle that has the power to change us from the inside out! The miracle we’re daily living is God in us!
In Him All Things Hold Together
Why do I love the sunrise so very much? Because it stirs my affections for God. It ushers me into His presence. The finite glory of the sun draws my gaze to His infinite glory. I was made for this. And so were you.
“The created universe is all about glory. The deepest longing of the human heart and the deepest meaning of heaven and earth are summed up in this: the glory of God. The universe was made to show it, and we were made to see it and savor it. Nothing less will do. Which is why the world is as disordered and as dysfunctional as it is. We have exchanged the glory of God for other things,” (Romans 1:23).
John Piper
I behold His majesty, and it points me back to the miracle. Each day I am reminded from the very start that God holds all things together. While I sleep, He is at work: sustaining, renewing, keeping. He is carrying all the things I worry about. I don’t have to hold it all together.
Each sunrise is a declaration that He keeps my world — and the whole wide world — spinning in orbit. Sleep forces me to lay it down, and the proof I wake up to each day is the miracle. I can let it all rest in His hands. All my toil does not hold things together. It is Christ. In Him all things hold together. In Him [Amy] holds together. And, in Him [insert your name here] holds together, (Colossians 1:17).
Prayer:
Restore us, God! Let Your face shine upon us and in our hearts anew, that we may be saved and growing in grace. Heighten our senses that we may moment-by-moment taste and see that You are so good! Remind us that we were made to behold Your glory. We come alive for Your glory! We’re daily living the miracle of Your grace! We’re daily living the miracle of “No longer I, but Christ.” In You all things hold together! Yes, Lord! Hold us together, resting in the miracle of God in us! Forgive us and guard us from exchanging Your glory for any other thing. Your glory is the desire of our hearts! Not to us, but to Your name be the glory, because of Your love and faithfulness!
