It Might Seem Like a Strange Idea
I never thought about this until last night when I went to a local park with a good friend to watch the 4th of July fireworks. I wonder if God likes fireworks.
Arriving early in the evening, we sat in our lawn chairs on a small hillside, surrounded by hundreds of people enjoying music and food truck goodies. Children played, and a steady stream of people walked in both directions on a track at the bottom of the hill. As the sky darkened, both young and old were caught up in anticipation of the loud booms and vibrant colors that would soon light up the night sky.
A large field stretched out below us, surrounded by low fencing. As 10:00 pm approached, people clapped and cheered as several pyrotechnicians entered the field, ready to put on a dazzling show for us.
I hadn’t seen fireworks up this close in years. As the booms, blasts, and fiery tendrils shot into the sky, I followed them with my eyes. Leaning back in my chair, I enjoyed the brilliant sparkles and thunderous flares exploding directly overhead. Vibrant bursts of red, blue, green, gold, and silver painted the sky above us. Many in the crowd oohed, aahed, clapped, and shouted as crackling white and silver stars scattered in all directions, immediately followed by spreading multicolored strobes of lights that seemed about to rain down upon us.
My Imagination Took Over During the Fireworks
As streaking radiant colors sparkled into glowing patterns overhead, my mind played with ideas of what it must have been like for the angels to watch as God created the universe. I imagined it might have been like a gigantic fireworks show.
Did dazzling stars burst all around them, shooting out to find their places in space? Were there sounds of whizzing, whistling, and booming?
I imagined God giving a shout of “Let there be…) with vibrant stars appearing out of nowhere and streaking to their places in billions of galaxies across the universe. What a show that would have been to watch!
No wonder God says in Job 38:7, that as He laid the foundation of the earth among all of these brilliant celestial formations, “Then morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.”
This was before people existed, so those sons of God must have been the angels. Watching God form the universe would have been stunning!
The spectacular fireworks display that I enjoyed on this Independence Day celebration would be like the tiniest prick of light compared to the universe bursting into being at God’s command.
Do You Think God Likes Fireworks?
I think He does. He loves His creation and created us to be joyful and full of wonder in it. He gives some people the ability to create impressive fireworks displays that amaze us with grand finales. I think He was smiling on my friend and me – glad that two friends who love Him were taking time out from the busyness and struggles of life to enjoy some bursts of light reminiscent of the bursting forth of His creation.
Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of His great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing. Isaiah 40:26 NIV
Want to read more of Karen’s writing as she ponders summer?
Thinking about summer experiences? You might enjoy the story, “Finding Treasures at the Lake.”
If you were Eagerly Waiting for summer to come, it’s here! This devotion talks about eagerly waiting for something more important.