One beautiful moment

All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. — Isaiah 40:6

One snap of the shutter, and there it was . . . one beautiful moment captured in time for eternity. The late summer sun reflected in the breaking wave made the water look like liquid gold splashing onto the shore. If my friend had not been there with his camera, the wave would have gone unnoticed, like so many others that have come and gone, seen only by God.

Who can imagine how many waves Lake Michigan has sent rolling onto the shoreline? Yet each one is unique. As seen in every wave, God makes extravagant beauty out of seemingly mundane things. Using water and air, He makes wondrous works of art. We enjoy His gallery in skies above and on earth and sea below. But most of earth’s beauty remains invisible to us; it is seen only by God.

God uses another gallery to display His glory — humans. We too are made out of something ordinary — dust (Gen. 2:7). But to us He added an extraordinary ingredient—His very own breath (v.7). Like waves of the sea and flowers of the field (Isa. 40:6), our lives are brief and seen by few. Yet each one is a beautiful “moment” created by God to say to the world, “Behold, your God!” whose Word will last forever (v.8).

                          — Julie Ackerman Link

Only one life, so live it well,

And keep your candle

trimmed and bright;

Eternity, not time, will tell

The radius of that candle’s light.

                                                       — Miller

READ: Isaiah 40:6-11

We fulfill our purpose

when we serve our Creator.