Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Without Excuse


"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." - Romans 1:20

I've never been to the West Coast before. I have not even been to the west side of the Mississippi River except for a few miles. I mean why would I want to travel so far from home. I have lived in Indiana pretty much all my life so my thought "God's invisible qualities" were how he made corn grow.

Today I put the rental car in gear and decided I was going to just drive. Leaving a small suburb of Seattle Washington I trekked eastward on Hwy 90 East. I thought "Oh I will see some hills and it won't be anything big." After all a mountain is just a big hill, right?
I never would have expected what happened next. As I drove I began to see in the distance the shadows of these "hills".

As I drew closer one of the strangest things occurred. My chest began to feel heavy. My breathing was becoming labored. My throat felt as if it were closing. Everything went blurry. I could not clear my eyes up. Was I at too high an elevation? What was going on?
Then it happened. Slowly, from the inside corner of my left eye the salt water had collected just enough moisture to send a wet streak down my cheek. I began to cry. I had seen pictures of these colossal behemoths all my life. I had watched movies that were filmed in these Mammoth earthen fixtures.

So why the sudden outburst? Why did my emotions let loose?
Because at that time I was face to face with the "Invisible qualities" of the creator. I was staring at one of His masterpieces. I spoke to him while I drove saying "LOOK WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!! OH GOD LOOK WHAT YOU CREATED!!!" Knowing that He heard me, the tears began to rain again. Even now as I write down these words the awesomeness of God has brought me to tears once more. Why all the emotions?

Because I realized that I am standing before Him...Without Excuse!