Beautiful Words Blog, Molokai Version | It's Very Clear Everywhere By Pastor John Moropoulos | Gateway Christian Fellowship

May 16, 2023

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. Psalm 19:1-2

I was standing on a rocky point this morning, watching the waves of recent storm crash on to the rocky coast of eastern Molokai. To say it was beautiful would be an absurd understatement. It was so much more than that.

From my vantage point I had a spectacular view of the waves from the side. I watched as they pushed into the small bay. I could see the swells form into breaking waves, the perfect curls taking shape, and then complete their course, collapsing on themselves and moving on toward the beach. Again and again it happened.

What struck me was the amazing balance of perfect beauty and extraordinary power. It was the balance between the two that really caught my eye. As a sailor I’ve seen the sea’s power: relentless, irresistible, almost immeasurable, oblivious to person or circumstance. Simply powerful, awesomely powerful. The sea can be awesome by every definition of that word.

And the sea is beautiful. It’s colors, sounds, rhythmic energy, constant movement. It is like a dance, always seeking to express some extraordinary emotion, trying to make something marvelous known.

All of this in a perfect, continuous balance.

All of which makes sense, given its Creator.

David wrote,

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.

Psalm 19:1-2

The apostle Paul wrote,

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. Romans 1:20

The truth of these two passages is clear; Creation tells us about our Creator. What is really amazing is that it can be seen anywhere on planet Earth. I saw it in the waves of the Pacific. In Alaska it surrounds us and can be seen daily. The mountain peaks that draw our eyes upward to heaven contain an incomprehensible weight of snow, held in place by a sometimes razor thin tension. My Grandfather lived in the California desert, just a few miles outside of the Death Valley National Monument. Vast stretches of alkali flats, lifeless to the eye, summer temperatures that could end a person’s life. But at sunset, beauty for which no words exist.

We see in the world around us, all around us, God’s beauty and His power, in a perfect, though never static balance. We are drawn to the natural world at its most raw, held by its beauty, even as we are reminded of the awesome force present.

So we are drawn to Him, cautiously mindful of exactly Who He is, trusting in the Divine

goodness of His being.

Then we see a tree, and are reminded of a moment when justice and mercy hung in perfect balance. Not static, but in a balance drawing us forever toward Him.

Praise be to Jesus.

Amen