Creator of Heaven and Earth

“He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—
    he remains faithful forever.” Psalm 146:6 NIV

Where were you on 9/11/2001? Recently, I’ve been remembering with various friends. We all remember where we were when we heard the news. I remember the shock that I felt, the surreal feeling of watching the impossible happen, the feeling that life was out of control. I don’t just remember that initial moment, but I remember that evening. Sitting on my front porch, I looked up into the night sky and saw the big dipper, low on the horizon, fit perfectly in the pattern made by the silhouetted trees across the street. This simple picture was too perfect to be an accident. In that moment, I felt the peace that comes from knowing that the God who created the heavens and the earth is still on His throne.

There is something about a clear starry night that expands our minds with the wonder of our mighty Creator. NASA estimates that the number of stars in the observable universe is around 1 x 1024. That’s one with 24 zeros after it! Put another way, the number of stars is equal to one trillion times one trillion. The human mind cannot fathom such a big number, and our eyes can see only a very small fraction of that number, even on the clearest of nights, yet this vast and incomprehensible number is written about in the creation account with the simplest remark: “He also made the stars” (Gen. 1:16b). We can sometimes forget how big our God truly is.

Our Creator is limitless (Is. 57:15). He is “mighty in power,” and “his understanding has no limit” (Ps. 147:5). The psalmist writes that God holds the earth in His hand, having fashioned it with His hands (Ps. 95:4-5), and in response he exhorts, “Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care” (Ps. 95:6-7). The King of heaven and earth is worthy of our praise. 

Psalm 24 begins, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters” (Ps. 24:1-2). In view of the vastness of our Creator, the psalmist ends his song of praise:

Lift up your heads, you gates;
    be lifted up, you ancient doors,
    that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
    The Lord strong and mighty,
    the Lord mighty in battle.
 Lift up your heads, you gates;
    lift them up, you ancient doors,
    that the King of glory may come in.
Who is he, this King of glory?
    The Lord Almighty—
    he is the King of glory (Ps 24:7-10). 

The Creator King is worthy. We are safe in the hands of the Almighty Creator who holds our world in His hands. The Apostle Paul reminds us that if God is for us, then nothing could possibly stand against us (Rom. 8:31). He divides the sea with one “blast of breath from his nostrils” (2 Sam. 22:16b), and He is mighty to save us from whatever we might face (Zeph. 3:17).  

He inhabits eternity (Is. 57:15), yet He is also attentive to every detail of His creation. God determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name (Psalm 147:4), yet He also numbers the hairs on our head (Matthew 10:30). He is the God of the vast universe, and He is the God of the intimate details. He can hold eternity and also hold our day-to-day. Jesus says our heavenly Father notices each time a sparrow is in trouble, and we can believe that He cares for our needs much more (Matt. 10:28-31). He is a big, big God, yet He is concerned about every detail of our lives. He is a good Creator. 

God is bigger than any circumstance you may be facing, and He loves you more than you can imagine. “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Pet 5:7). The God who set the stars in place, who orchestrates seasons with perfect timing is faithful and He is true. His “eternal power and divine nature” can be seen all around us (Rom 1:20). If life feels a little bit out of control or overwhelming, take a breath, lift your eyes, and find your peace in Him. 

P.S. Do you need a chance to get away with your Creator? Perhaps you need a place to rest and reconnect with the one who designed you for a purpose. If so, we would love to invite you to our second “First Love Retreat” which we will be hosting in January 2024. It will be an opportunity to reset our hearts with our First Love, to dream and connect with Him, and to start off 2024 the best way we know how: committing the year and ourselves to our First Love.