I love the Old Testament! I love the New too, don’t get me wrong, but God in His heaven, writing His great story of humanity, is awe inspiring to me. One day, He gave me a picture of His “bird’s eye view” on humanity, His creation. It rocked me and encouraged me and made me feel, for a moment, a little of what He feels as He watches us etch out our lives:

Can You Imagine

Can you imagine how He made it?
created from nothingness
the promises and possibilities
brought into being by a few spoken words

Can you see His hand as He threw out the stars?
like seeds on wind
floating to their place with names of their own
the sun and the moon taking turns as parents
leading and guiding and lighting our way

 What of the great expanse?
that perfect combination of breathable air
the puffy clouds that He knew would float
into shapes we could imagine

Then there were fish
in so many shapes and sizes and colors
some make us laugh out loud at their funny faces
others inspire a still silence as they glide
so huge, so sleek, so deadly

Fur and feather, scales and skin
coverings for creatures
scurrying in their forest homes
roaming in hunter stealth among jungle grass
lurking bright-eyed from trees and holes and caves.

There are no homeless here

See them sunning on rocks in the hot of the day
sparkling backs on slow creeping legs
darting tongues from dragon-like faces

What imagination
What might
What glory

The hosts of heaven watch
Breath held as He begins His masterpiece
A sculptor with the perfect mix of clay
He molds the delicate eyes
knowing the glory they will behold
He grasps the tiny bones of the ear
knowing the music they will make

Can you imagine?

The man
so strong and sure in his beauty
intelligence  rests on his brow
strength upholds his chest and mighty arms
adventure lures his thoughts
made to protect and guard
made to provide and father
made to delight His maker
picture His surprised delight in man

Now see the woman
how lovely in her graces
how her lithe strength is displayed in her garden dance
as she dances for her man and her God
See Him implant within her secret places
the seeds of all mankind
See Him gift her with the power of the nations in her hand

How pleased!
How blessed to see the handiwork of His creation
It is good

Can you imagine the adventures He planned for us?
When Columbus first sailed and the earth became round
Sit back with Him on His throne or ride on chariot’s wings
As He watches the play He has made
His heart wrenching with our tragedies
soaring with our triumphs
but knowing, always knowing
that we are His

Can you see His joy when we discover the hidden secrets of our world
when the mysteries of fire and light and heat are made known to us
when the infinite miracles of our bodies, just clay but more – His image
are explored as the depths of the oceans or the black of space

Blank pages becoming the stories of our lives 

Even now, can you see Him in the laboratory peeking over a shoulder?
peering through a microscope on the verge of a discovery
His breath is held still
awaiting the moment when we rear back in sudden understanding
when we get a glimpse of Him and His heaven

Can you see His smile when we studied the birds?
took our first flight
see Him beside us in a fiery chariot booming with laughter
at the pure joy of it of what we’ve done
Wasn’t He center stage when moon dust coated our boots
and we had inched a little closer to Him in His heaven

Beloved, can you see Him – smiling and triumphant
when we see the mysteries He made for us
planned since before time began to share with us
just waiting for us to look up and notice His great love

 Then, in a moment and yet a lifetime
after we’ve looked and seen and experienced
can you see His thudding heart
when we look up and see His Son
when our eyes are full of the glory of Him

the Lamb of God

Can you imagine His welling heart of love
when we open to Him and return it?

Oh, beloved
He waits for it . . . He longs for it
He planned it all along