From the Sky

By Lori Scharf

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Last week, I found myself on a plane. 

I looked down as we climbed higher and higher, and I saw my world. My city, my county, my province, all spread out beneath me.

Cars became ants, trees became blurry dots, and roads became tiny ribbons of grey. 

I was then struck by the futility of man. 

Growing up in the country, I’m used to multi-generational farms that have been growing for a hundred years to get where they are today. Hundreds of thousands of hours of blood, sweat, and tears. Millions- probably billions- of dollars poured into their land. 

Yet, to me, it was like watching insects toil at their work. 

Miles and miles and acres upon acres of farmland, all like postage stamps on a page.

It’s seeding time, so nearly every farmer for hundreds of miles around is out in their tractor, plowing or planting or spraying. 

Farming equipment now, like most everything, is bigger, better, and more expensive than ever. But from a plane window, these million-dollar rigs were hardly even visible. 

For most farmers, their land is their legacy. It’s their life’s work and it’s the greatest thing they leave to their descendants when they die. 

All their life’s work, all their livelihood, all in what is in the scheme of things a tiny corner of the world. 

In this quilt of fields sewn together by thin stretches of road. 

In these mighty machines that look to me, high in the sky, like toys.

Imagine how God must see us, then. 

God is the mightiest being in the universe. He not only created the world, but he holds it in the palm of his hand. 

Man is a simple minded creature. We spend our day to day toiling in our lives, one of several billion who populate this earth. Our planet is so vast to us that even in our 6000 years of recorded history, we haven’t explored nearly all of it. Sure, we’ve discovered continents and elements and animals of all kinds, but we know more about space than we do our own oceans. 

Speaking of space, did you know that scientists estimate the diameter of the sun to be about 850,000 miles? By comparison, Earth is only just under 8000 miles in diameter. 

That means it would take well over 1,000,000 earths to fill the sun. 

But they also say they have discovered other stars so large that comparatively, they make the sun look smaller than the period at the end of this sentence. 

What is man compared to that?

From God’s perspective, we are smaller than dust. Miniscule compared to the universe He has created. 

On my trip to the West Coast of Canada, I saw a lot of magnificent things. Stoic mountains, roaring rivers, and towering trees. I saw eagles and butterflies, fish and turtles, even two black bears. Only a few miles away, deep in the ocean, whales swam with swarms of other sea creatures. 

Yet God chose us to be his people. 

Out of all the solar systems, out of all the planets, out of all the creatures He made, He chose man. 

He chose us to be created in His image and to experience all that He had made and worship Him and give him glory for all that He has made. 

Man, in all our folly. In all our sin, pride, and rebelliousness. Man, who’s heart is evil above all things and desperately wicked. 

Even though we were created perfect, God knew that we would turn away from Him and ultimately destroy ourselves. In spite of this, we are still His children. 

Not the roaring rivers. 

Not the towering trees. 

Not the stoic mountains.

He chose us. 

He chose man to be His children and to spend eternity with him in paradise. 

Man has many great achievements. Grand cities built, the tallest mountains summited, exploring earth, sea, and sky. 

Yet we cannot build a forest. We cannot pull a mountain from the earth or dig a great valley with only a word. We cannot speak a galaxy into existence.

But He can. 

To me, that is more humbling than anything. To know God does all this and more, and we are the only ones who can truly appreciate the beauty and majesty of His creation. 

And all he asks for in return is love. 

We were created to praise and worship God, yet we fail even in that simple task. We serve ourselves, instead of God. We further our own corruption every day. 

It’s so easy to get caught up in our lives, busy and anxious and stressed about the little things. It’s so easy to forget our true purpose. It’s so easy to lose your sense of wonder. 

In conclusion, I have a challenge for you, dear reader. 

Go outside.

Forget your worries and responsibilities for a moment and look up.

Look at the trees, the grass, the sky, and remember your true purpose. 

Look up and thank God for the life He has given us and praise His greatness. 

Look up and remember that the God who created the universe in only 6 days, took 9 months to create you.

No matter how small and insignificant you feel, God values you above any other creation. 

You are His child, forever and ever. Amen.