I Can...

We are at the tail end of monsoon now – clear, sunny days, cool breezes, with the late afternoons bringing gathering cloud. Overnight, storms rumble and grumble around the valley hills and continue to release their refreshing rain. To the north side, billowing cloud still mostly obscures the Himalayas. In this rain-washed atmosphere, even Kathmandu air is clean and visibility very clear. Our nearby hills are carpeted in lush forest and at night, the lights on distant peaks twinkle. Gaps in overnight cloud patterns are dark patches sprinkled with bright stars. The moon shines eerily through the clouds. 

Kathmandu style flat roofed houses are ideal for catching after dark breezes, spectacular lightning displays and star gazing. Recently, I was re-reading some amazing facts about the universe. Hubble telescope has captured images of far-flung galaxies 13.5 billion light years away (one light year being 9 trillion km!), and the number of stars in the universe is now estimated to be equivalent to the number of grains of sand on all the beaches on all the earth… 

Our own sun takes 230 million years to just orbit its small part of the Milky Way, and it would take us 200,000 light years to travel across our galaxy – a relatively small one! Incredible information to boggle your mind. The bible says God spoke it all into being. He imagined it, gave the command and it became reality. I can…

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength… No wonder one bible writer penned these words, this truth. This same star breathing, galaxy creating, universe imagining God is the one who strengthens us. To do all things, everything, even seemingly impossible things. His strength is on offer to enable us to be all he calls us to be, who he has destined us to be, and to carry out his plans and purposes. Out of nothing, God created out of nothing… in the beginning… 

Human beings, made in the image of God, are born with innate creative flair. It manifests in all kinds of areas. The earth is indeed filled with manmade wonders, immense engineering feats and technological innovations, but they all start with something… Ex nihilo… out of nothing. God dreamed, spoke, and it became. Again, the bible says Jesus holds all things together, mmm… a universe ‘holding’ God! It says he not only sustains it, he is still growing it, and this was written long, long before the namesake of the Hubble telescope actually discovered that the universe is indeed rapidly expanding. 

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength… this becomes a much more interesting statement, promise and encouragement when we choose to think about how great our God is. Looking up at the stars has fascinated many generations of people. We wonder and dream and enjoy. The sheer grandeur and size of it all is beyond our imagination and ability to fully grasp. Surely, it is true… I can do all things through the One who strengthens me… I can…