Big Sky, Big God
Posted in Daily Focus on Sunday, December 1, 2013
"Thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice" (Psalm 65:8b).
Living in western Nebraska, where the sky is bigger than the ground, our homeschooling family developed a particular love of studying the clouds and the sky. On countless occasions, one of my children would come running into the house and say, "Mom, you've got to come and see this!" Walking outside together, we would stand and watch as God painted a breathtaking scene just for us on the canvas of His sky. Each inspiring sunrise or sunset seemed to make all the homeschooling problems of the day fade into insignificance.
For the next several years, I learned the art of enjoying God's beauty. Each time I felt the four walls closing in on my homeschooling day, I would walk outside to view God's multicolored and intricately patterned sky. The kaleidoscope of colors that surrounded me in the vastness of His sky reminded me of my smallness and God's greatness. I realized I was totally dependent on my infinite Creator for all things, including the courage and creativity I needed to face another homeschooling day.
Are the pressures of homeschooling squeezing the life out of you today? If so, step outside, look up to the sky, and drink in His beauty. God is waiting to revive you today with the glory of His presence and the wonder of His magnificent creation in the heavens. "O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him" (Psalm 8:1, 3-4)?
Lord, how great You are! I give You the glory today for being such an awesome God! I praise You for the beauty of Your creation and the reminder that I am in Your constant care. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Comments(5 comments)
Jane B 12/01/2010 07:55:50
Do we ever give God enough glory and thanksgiving for all the magnificence of His creation for us to enjoy and sustain our lives! We don\'t need a big sky to realize...just a big heart filled with the spirit of the living God.
SUSAN M 12/01/2010 09:48:57
God is there and He is not silent. The heaven\'s do glorify Him.
JENNIFER B 12/01/2010 10:31:02
Technically I am not a homeschooling mom. However, I supplement my children\'s public schooling with \"homework\" and activities when they are here. I work out of my home providing child care for mom\'s/dad\'s that are working. So in that sense I am homeschooling, littel ones, 2 and under. I am blessed each day that I can be home to take care of my families and help other familes. Since I subscribe to AO publications I have been blessed and encouraged by the daily devotionals I recieve. Each day the story/verse applies to my life, to my patience in caring for others and to my struggle as being the Christian leader in my home. My husband is growing in his faith. I pray for the writer/writers of these devotionals. Please know you are reaching more than the typical homeschooling parent and sharing God\'s word to make a difference in my days. May you all be abundantly blessed in your days.
Jennifer B.
LIZ W 12/01/2011 05:37:03
One thing I don\'t understand are the different people that every day feel compelled to judge and criticize daily focus. The people who write these are obviously experienced homeschoolers trying to encourage us out here who are day in and day out educating, loving, learning and varios other things. I am at a particularly good spot with schooling right now, praise God, but there was a time when I came up every day with nothing, discouraged, wanting to give up. I praise God for the need AOP has filled in providing help to start me off in the right direction. AOP has been used as a major factor in why things are going well in my homeschool. I just pray you(writers of daily focus) will not get discouraged by all the nit-picking. If there was ar scriptural discrepancy then maybe loving rebuke may be needed but this is a daily devotional not some doctrine to pick apart to, as some do, see what part we like and don\'t like. Daily focus is serving God by encouraging the saints. I just find every day people nit-pick, I want to say THANK YOU!
Liz W.
KATHY S 12/01/2012 06:44:41
My son had me take notice of the clouds the other day, also frequently at night he had me look at the stars.
When we learn to see through the eyes of a child we can truly enjoy all that is around us. I hadn\'t bothered looking in the sky admiring these wonderful creations from our Lord since I was a child.
Here, God\'s most Precious creation, my son, brought them to my attention.
Thank you Jesus for ALL you wonderful creations!!