Ko’Olina beach, Oahu, HI photo by Emilee Danielson
People throughout the world often brag about the sunsets of their region. And rightly so. Whether it’s the mountainous wilderness of Alaska, the serene lakes of Minnesota, or the intensely colorful desert lands of Arizona. They each offer sunsets that are uniquely “theirs”.
In the middle of each day the sun overhead goes largely unnoticed, yet it illuminates and enables us to see the colors and details of our surroundings. We rarely glance up to look at this vision giving orb. In fact, we probably spend a good amount of time avoiding it. But when the sun begins to set, that all changes. The sun itself moves to a place that is hard to miss making things like driving much more difficult. Shadows grow longer and slowly colors and details fade as the sun settles closer to the horizon. Now by contrast, the vibrant reds, pinks, and oranges of the sky demand our attention. The one thing that all sunsets have in common is that as the sun moves down toward the horizon, our once illuminated surroundings turn from soft gray to black.
Our God is like that. We move through our day knowing He is there, yet barely remembering it is Him who illuminates our way. Just like that sun so high above us, God eventually made his way down. He too moved to a place we can no longer ignore. Like all west bound drivers at the end of the day, the sun becomes something we must now deal with. When Jesus came, he moved directly into our visual. God was no longer something people could ignore, and as we turn to face him, the world and everything in it becomes nothingness in contrast to His glory.
Sunsets around the globe testify daily, the things of the earth grow strangely dim in the light of His mercy and grace.