Still Thought 4

And know that I am God. Last week we brought our middle son, Phil back to university in Edmonton where he joined his brother Ben for another year. In route we camped at the base of Mt. Robson and took a 10 km. walk along a rushing river to Kinney lake, probably the most beautiful setting, in my opinion, that I've ever seen. The turquoise water under 14,000 ft. snow capped peaks is absolutely breathtaking and stops you in your tracks. It's not hard to be still and observe the majesty of the surrounding mountains and waterfalls. This time brought back memories of when my sons and I had a discussion about God in high school --Who created the world? How do we know God exists? Why should we believe in God? I shared with them that for me, knowing there is a God is a combination of fact, faith and following. The fact part is creation, especially when I see the majesty and complexity of all that exists. I know people who argue about how the world came into being, but something happened this summer that has made my conviction about God even stronger. On our vacation, we visited a world renown Astrophysical Observatory that uses radio waves to map the universe. Radio waves can reach farther than telescopes in determining what's out there and how much. The astrophysicist that led the tour answered many questions and explained that we are part of the milky way galaxy which contains billions of stars and beyond our galaxy there are millions of other galaxies in the universe! Of course, someone asked him, "is there life (extraterrestrial) out there?" He answered that he personally knows the people that run that institute and to this date they have not found any sign of life outside of our earth. For me, to know that the earth and its' inhabitants are unique in the universe of billions of galaxies helps me believe there actually is God -- a divine Creator. On the other hand, the whole concept of beginning of time, space, universe is so incomprehensible, even beyond my imagination. But then God did something I can totally relate to -- He created me and everyone before me in His image and gave us a wonderful place to live within the universe. To know God and have relationship with Him is where the faith part comes in. As Paul states in Hebrews, faith is "believing in things we don't see" and sometimes as humans we tend to only believe in things we can actually see in real life, like watching President Obama on TV. Maybe this is where the phrase "seeing is believing" came from. Even the Israelites were challenged with this and built a golden calf, something they could feel and see, to worship in place of God. Jesus' own disciples who could see and hear him also had trouble with this and often asked for signs and wonders. For me, the way to overcome doubt is to put faith (belief in God) into action. Fortunately, God helps me do this through His Word, the Bible and the gift of His Holy Spirit. And this is where the following part comes in --if you start by believing in God our Creator, then follow the instruction of His Word in the Bible there is no doubt that words of the psalmist, "and know that I am God" will become real for you. Join me right now in acknowledging the the God of the Universe, His Son and Holy Spirit with moment of silence and by listening to God of Wonders in the Worship Music section of this blog. If you don't know God and want to, just say ,"Lord of all Creation, I want to know you more, please come into my life right now". Leave a comment on this blog for further guidance. PS. If you'd like to see photos of Kinney Lake play "the Lord is my Song" in the Worship Music Section.