MORNING GLORY 06
Good morning, it’s God’s morning! How do you start your day?
The first thing I do before getting out of bed is I look at the Bible verse of the day on my phone. Yes, even before social media and messages. I’ve intentionally made it a habit over the past few years and it’s a game CHANGER. I challenge you! It’s not any kind of fancy Bible study or trendy app. But I like it that way. I crave the simplicity this verse of the day brings. Somehow it’s always exactly what I need to fuel my day. God really knows, doesn’t He?!
When I think about God’s Word, I can’t help but wonder about His handwriting. (It’s the left-handed writing obsessed side of me!) We all have unique handwriting. But what does God’s handwriting actually look like anyway?
The more I thought about God’s handwriting, the more I saw alphabet letters transforming into everyday life around me. God’s handwriting is written on a sunrise, in ocean horizons, on country backroads, in morning coffee steam, in a good friend’s laughter, in fall’s changing leaves, and especially in a garden.
The more I seek God, read His Word, and draw close to Him, the more I see His handwriting everywhere. Over the summer I helped make some wooden scripture signs for my church’s garden. A few weeks ago I stopped by the garden and saw my handwriting inscribing the signs with Bible verses. It made me laugh a little. I realized only people who truly know me will know I wrote on these signs because they will recognize my handwriting. The same is true with God. Only those who truly know Him will recognize Him not just in His Word but in everything surrounding us. In church that day we talked about God’s image. We are all God’s image bearers, so my handwriting on the signs was reflecting Him. That is pretty amazing for a handwriting guru like me. Everyday when I use the gifts God gave me, I am reflecting His handwriting through mine. And guess what: You have this opportunity everyday in your own way, too!
These thoughts raised the questions…Who am I when I put the pen and pencil down? Where do my lines end and God’s begin? How do they intersect and overlap and become one big beautiful line?
Extreme Alabama weather is sure to wear on these garden signs over time. Someday they will be tossed aside or painted over with something new. But even though they may look different, the words they once displayed never change. Even if they aren’t displayed on a sign standing in a garden, God’s words still stand forever. They stand the tests of time and every season. They aren’t dependent on a wooden sign to give them life. They are forever alive in Jesus. They have deep roots planted in hearts that can weather any storm. They don’t hinge on my ability or my work. Even when I put down my pen and rest, God’s Word is not paused. Though my work not last forever, God’s Word remains through every generation. When my lines end, God’s lines keep going without missing a stroke. He’s writing His story into my life and my life is part of His bigger story. Your story is too, friend. Do you see it?
Sometimes it’s easy to trace God’s line of faithfulness in our lives. Other times it’s hard or confusing to figure out. Can my handwriting change by the day or by how much coffee I’ve had? Yep. Does God’s handwriting ever change? Nope! So I’m choosing to trust God even when I cannot trace Him. Even when I try to retrace my steps He is calling me forward to keep writing. Keep trusting. Keep going. He is making a way in the wilderness of blank pages. He is leaving traces of Himself when I fix my eyes on Jesus.
Lord, thou hast given us thy Word for a light to shine upon our path;
grant us so to meditate on that Word, and to follow its teaching,
that we may find in it the light that shines more and more until the perfect day; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Jerome, c 342 – 420
