Between the Sunset and the City Lights

Flying at 6:00 in the morning has an amazing benefit that I certainly wasn't anticipating as I boarded the plane half awake on Friday morning. It was dark when we reached the airport, and since Steve and I had crashed at a hotel at 1:30 a.m. and woken up at 3:00, all we really cared about was the fact that the steady hum of the plane was about to become our lullaby.

As we sat down in our assigned seats, I was pleased to see that I was next to a window. The few times I have flown have either been in the afternoon or late at night, and I remembered enjoying the sight of endless landscapes and twinkling lights beneath me. "Maybe I'll just look for a little while before going to sleep," I thought, settling into my seat.

Minutes later we were in the air, and I was closing my eyes. I don't know how long I slept, but I remember the feeling of being pulled awake. I believe I thought something to the effect of, "Are you serious?!?" before cracking open my eyes to see what He wanted from me.

I've seen some beautiful things in this world: double rainbows, ice encased trees, and majestic oceans that stretch beyond the horizon. I've seen things that have made me catch my breath, and others that have brought me to tears.

But I've never come as close to seeing God personified in our earth as I did on that airplane that morning.

When I opened my eyes, I was in the middle of the sunrise.

The colors were vibrant, stretching across the sky unhindered. The clouds just below me rose and fell within themselves, a thick blanket of lavender. As the tears filled my eyes, I thought, "Good morning, Father."

I couldn't tear my eyes away. I felt like I was being given a gift, this opportunity to glimpse the magnitude of God. The overwhelming thought within me was, "God is SO big!"

"They who dwell in the ends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs;
You make the dawn and the sunset shout for joy." (Psalm 65:8)

As I sat marveling at the true greatness of our Creator, the clouds parted for a moment, revealing a city far below us. Lights twinkled from hundreds of houses and buildings; a symphony of lives represented through their glow.

It struck me, this contrast between the enormity of the sunset and the miniature reflections of light.

As I sat contemplating our relative size in comparison to God, I realized something.

God is so big. We are so small. But God's love for each of us is NOT small! I saw hundreds of lights in that one part of that one city. Hundreds of lights that represented thousands of people, and God knows each...and...every...one. He knows them intimately. And He LOVES them.

I am one person in one house in one city in one state in one country in just one continent of this world. And HE loves Me. Our great big God who created the most amazing sunrise I have ever seen, loves me. And He loves the people in the house next door, and the one next to that. We can't even imagine the number of lights we'd see if we could glimpse the entire world from above; yet He cares for each and every person as much (and more!) as we love our children.

In fact, He loves each one of us so much that He did what none of us can imagine doing. He sacrificed His one and only son. For me. For you. For your children, and your parents, and your neighbor. For billions of people you will never even see. Because His love is as big as He is. And He loves you.

John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal Life." (NASB)

Suddenly the distance between the sunset and the city lights seems so much shorter.