Awesome!

Years ago some college friends and I took a trip out west. I had grown up where the tallest mountains were the nearby Ozarks of northeast Arkansas. (My friends had grown up with similar 'mountain' experiences.)

We were all anxious to see real mountains. While the Ozarks possessed their own charm, they could not compare to the majesty of the Rocky Mountains. From many miles away we saw the distant Rockies on the horizon as the seemed to grow larger and larger.

Still miles away we became more and more aware that the Rockies were far more beautiful, far more majestic, and far more breath-taking than anything any of us had seen before. We leaned forward in the car and looked from side to side to try and take it all in.

Peppered in among long periods of silence were brief expressions: “Awesome.” “Incredible.” “Amazing.” We were still far away.

At some point there was only silence in the car. Our language failed to provide adjectives suitable to describe what our eyes beheld. We were overwhelmed. We could only gaze.
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I think that most people in the world are rather unimpressed with God. I wonder if many people, even some Christians, just look at God somewhat at a distance. I wonder if we are just too busy to look at God. Many are busy working out doctrinal questions. Some are busy serving others or planning and doing church work. Some are just busy. Much of our ‘busy-ness’ is important. However, do you ever stop...and just gaze at God?
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My friends and I reasoned and agreed that it is impossible to fully capture the majesty of the Rocky Mountains through a camera lens. There are many stunning photographic representations of the Rockies. Yet, none capture the essence of beauty seen by the human eye.
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I think many people look at God through a lens of doctrine or a lens of service or a lens of kindness or a lens of judgment or perhaps some other lens. Their view may be true, but limited. Sometimes it is worthwhile to stop…
     ...and without a lens
     ...and not trying to figure something out
     ...just gaze toward God.


   You can see God in His creation.

        You can see God in the Law of Moses.

             You can see God in his anger.

                  You can see God in his mercy.

             You can see God in the prophets.

        You can see God in Christ.

   You can see God in His church.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

“Then the Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground...
...and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.”
—Genesis 1:1; 2:7

Stop and gaze…
     What do you see?


Mark Stinnett

February 9, 2025