Last night we were treated to a beautiful sight of the moon. A “Supermoon” was what they called it. My eldest son and I love to take photos so we went out to see what we could capture on our cameras. (above is a picture I took)
Along with it came the inevitable – a question from my curious offspring – “What is a “supermoon?” Well, being that I was just interested in what it looked like and not what it was, I had to admit that I didn’t have a clue. So I went to ask “Mr Google”. (yes I regularly ask Goggle questions to answer my inquisitive children)
One article described it like this – “A supermoon is a new or full moon closely coinciding with perigee – the moon’s closest point to Earth in its monthly orbit.” It further went on to say this – “The full moon on November 14, 2016, will present the closest supermoon of the year (356,509 kilometers or 221,524 miles). What’s more, this November 14, 2016 full moon will showcase the moon at its closest point to Earth thus far in the 21st century (2001 to 2100), and the moon won’t come this close again until the full moon of November 25, 2034. “. (1)
I love Google.. sometimes!! I also love that my children challenge me not to become too stale in what I know and what I think.
God often uses these times to teach me something new.
Keep learning
People often challenge me to keep searching out the Word of God. You see… I didn’t know everything. Surprised? Sometimes it is like I know very little. It causes me to run to the bible and my Strong’s Concordance to find out what the Word of God says. Because when I don’t know, I want to know.
When I hear scripture misquoted. When I hear scripture quoted that I have never heard before. When I hear scripture quoted out of a context that I would normally hear it. When I sense that God wants me to look up His Word…or when I suddenly want to know more. These are the reasons I find myself searching scriptures.
Curiosity is a good thing. Questions should be asked. Admitting that we don’t know everything is a fantastic thing, it keeps us from being a “know-it-all”.
I still remember when one of my children just started school. It was the first week of his schooling. I heard him talking to his little friend in the lounge room and I came a little closer, but just out of sight, to listen.
Son: “I know lots and lots of stuff”
Friend: “yeah me too, I know lots too”
My son leaned closer to his friend and with a knowing look of superior wisdom said, “I think I know more than mum!” To which they both agreed and went on colouring in. To this day I do the same thing when I remember… I smile.
No matter how old you are, we should never believe that we know a lot of “stuff”. I clearly remember that in Nazarene Theological College, our very elderly bible teacher would often walk in the room and ask, with a twinkle in his eye, “Guess what I learnt today?” Since he was as old as the hills (we thought) and that we were so smart (we figured), it always took us by surprise that he needed to learn more (shock).
The older I get, the more I realise I know very little. Especially about my God.
The Son
In looking at the moon and later at the pictures I took I was reminded once again at the mercy and love of my God. I have been struggling with not doing enough in my service to God. I want so much to serve Him. Sometimes it wants to burst from me. But I want to do it His way only.
I writing this as God is speaking to my heart and reminding me that I just need to do what He wants… that is – have Him shine on me.
This beautiful moon is always there. Every night it is in our night sky. We are not always seen by others, and sometimes the cloud covers us over. It is only when the sun shines upon it that it is seen. Once and a while there is a moon eclipse where the moon is blacked out… and everybody know about that because it happens rarely.
Now I am no scientist, nor do I pretend to know anything about moon, sun or earth, but God used this opportunity to speak to me.
As a Christian, given totally to my God I am already there. Seen before I was born and loved by Him. I have answered His call and I am there, whether people see me or not.
In my younger life, I seem to not have God in my life and many saw this. I was a shadow of what I should be, but He knew I was there. All I needed, was to allow what had come between me and the Son to pass by, and I shone again.
A few years ago, some people saw me fail in a small area of my life. They have no clue why I was hurting and hiding away, but they took pictures in their mind and still to this day assess me on the fact that I didn’t “shine”. They fail to see that I am only a moon. God needs them to see that. I can’t be the bright one, I am not supposed to be. There are times when my flaws are going to be seen, and I am glad they did. Now I can go on with them knowing that I have clay feet and do what God wants anyway.
My life shines in the dark whether people acknowledge it or not. When I pass close to the lives of others and shine bright with the Son, I am noticed the most. Not because I am anything, but because the Son is everything.
So here I am. I will, by the grace of God, continue to be everything God wants me to be and allowing Him to shine on me. In my home… in my street… in my town… and in my country.
And remember… when we are not there to shine on people during the night, is when they look for us the most until the Son shines on them in a new day.
Be blessed
Ruth
(1) http://earthsky.org/space/what-is-a-supermoon
