Hubby and I have just recently returned from traveling overseas the past couple of weeks.
We took off from Rome at 10am, headed home … and the sun was shining brightly!
We flew over the Alps at the northern border of Italy and France … and the sun was shining brightly!
I was absolutely thrilled to be flying over the French/Italian Alps! It felt like the most wonderful gift in the world to be able to see what the Alps look like from the air!
As I gazed in awe out the window, I couldn’t help thinking they really don’t look that much different than my own Cascade Mountain range … though they are running east/west rather than north/south. I have only ever seen mountain ranges running north/south. So it was bizarrely fascinating to see a mountain range running east/west.
I stared down in wonder at the Alps, imagining Hannibal trying to get his army and herds of war elephants over that mountain range, in order to conquer Rome. Thinking of my own Cascade Mountain range, the idea of trying to get war elephants through and over the Cascades is totally absurd.
We flew for hours over the Atlantic Ocean … and the sun was shining brilliantly! Just look at all those many different layers of blue in the different layers of the atmosphere! Stunning!
We flew through the puffiest clouds as we came down to land in Dallas … and the sun was shining brilliantly!
Seeing this cloud pillar out in the distance I couldn’t help thinking of Moses leading God’s people, the children of Israel, for 40 years through the desert … with God going before them in a pillar of cloud.
After a 2-hr. layover … making it through customs, transferring our bags, re-entering back through Security again, grabbing a bite to eat, and boarding our next plane … we took off headed for Seattle. And the sun was shining brilliantly!
By now Rome was well into nighttime. Before our previous flight had landed the flight maps on the tv screens were showing Rome to be well into the dark side of the earth.
But hubby and I were chasing the sun around the globe!
Our flight across the U.S. to Seattle was brilliant and sunny all the way. Sunshine as we banked around Mt. Rainier. Then down through the cloud layer to land. No sunshine down here on the ground … it’s Seattle after-all. (Ha!)
By now hubby and I had been up and going for 24 hrs. straight. We were foggy-headed, weary, and bleary-eyed. But this day wasn’t over yet! That’s what happens when you chase the sun around the globe!
I couldn’t help thinking how God never gets tired. God never gets weary. God is in the daytime here on this side of the globe, while at the same time God is there in Rome in the nighttime on the complete opposite side of the globe.
God doesn’t chase the sun around the globe like we frail humans do, getting weary, bleary, and foggy-headed. God is bigger than that! God is outside of the world!
God stands back … outside of it all … and with just a flip of his hand he sets the globe spinning on its axis.
God stands back … outside of it all … and with just a flip of his hand he sets the entire solar system spinning!
God is there painting stunning layers of blue throughout the different layers of the atmosphere over the Atlantic Ocean.
God is there tossing puffy clouds and cloud-pillars across the sky of Texas.
God was there, back 2,000 years ago in 218 BC, when Hannibal tried to cross the Alps with his army and herds of war elephants. God was ruling over the affairs of mankind even then. God was in total control no matter the political upheaval and wars that were going on back then.
And God is right here, right now. God is still ruling over the affairs of mankind right now. God is still in total control right now, no matter the political upheaval and wars which frighten us today.
After a never-ending day of chasing the sun around the globe, hubby and I finally made it home. It was still broad daylight as we pulled into the driveway. And check it out … the foxgloves are still blooming! I had assumed they would all be done by the time we got back. What a nice welcome-home surprise.
It is “somewhat fun” to chase the sun around the globe. It is fun (in its own unique way) to see the sun never set. But I am so glad to finally rest!
“Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
“He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
“Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
“but those who wait on the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
– Isaiah 40:28-31
