In middle school, all the boys took a woodshop class. It was a rite of passage — an opportunity to create something special. I quickly realized two things:
(1) I couldn’t use a router to make a straight line to save my life.
(2) I had an irrational (or maybe rational) fear of losing my fingers to various saws.
Needless to say, my chance to create something from scratch vanished. But our Creator has no such limitations. He creates without fear, with perfect precision. With just His words, life came into existence: “Let there be light.” Simple, powerful, and life-giving.
Our Creator’s eternal power is evident in everything around us. Where’s your favorite place to visit? Maybe you soak up the sun and play in the waves at the beach. Maybe you hike through the mountains. If you’ve ever witnessed a desert sunrise or sunset, you’ve seen His fingerprints — His artistry — on display beyond anything we could ever create. The natural world reveals His eternal power. And as His creation, we sometimes try to emulate it.
One of my favorite places in the world is Sequoia National Park. The giant sequoias never fail to remind me of God’s power. These towering trees, which seem like they belong to another world, sprout from a tiny seed and grow into giants. When they fall, they shatter with the sheer force of their weight. Their bark can be up to two feet thick, and they even benefit from fire. There is nothing else quite like them. The General Sherman Tree, the largest tree in the world by volume, is estimated to be around 2,200–2,700 years old. That means that while Jesus walked on the earth, this tree had already stood for centuries. To me, that’s a profound and humbling thought.
What part of God’s creation makes you marvel? Where do you see His power so clearly that words aren’t needed? The same power that spoke “Let there be light” is the same power Jesus used to calm the storm. It’s the same power that forgives us. True power—eternal power—comes from God alone, and it is the foundation of all life.
Look to His creation as a reminder of His power, and take a moment today to thank Him for His power to save.
Pastor Jeremy Johnson