Mindful

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.  –Psalm 8:3-5 (ESV)
 
As I stood at the top of the ridge overlooking my neighborhood and the surrounding landscape, I thought of the beauty of creation, oftentimes fleeting, perhaps framed by a sunset that will be gone in a few moments, but frequently hidden for millennia, waiting to be discovered by human eyes. And perhaps more often than we might imagine, known only by the Creator who, I am convinced, holds some things purely for His own enjoyment, to be revealed to His children when time is no more.
 
Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands….  –Isaiah 49:15-16a (NIV)
 
These thoughts led to consideration of the vastness of the creation, every detail intentional, from the construction of the atom to the depths of the ocean to the expanses of the cosmos. I thought about time, both its meaning and its passage. And I felt very small. But I also felt very loved. Because the One who created everything and holds it together by His mighty hand has blessed humanity with a spark of Himself. Of all we know of on our little planet, we are the part of His creation that bears His image.
 
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”  –Psalm 46:10 (NIV)
 
He gives us the ability to think beyond ourselves, to ask questions about His identity even as we seek purpose for our own existence and plan not only for our own futures, but for the generations to come. Such imaginings are quite lofty. Awareness of the privilege and responsibility of what has been entrusted to our care is quite literally awesome. So much we are capable of understanding, but so much that remains a mystery. What will we take hold of? What will we make of it? Will we choose to honor our Maker in the time we have?
 
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.  –Isaiah 26:3 (ESV)
 
Lord, thank you for being mindful of us. May we always be mindful of You.
 
I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.  –Psalm 16:8 (ESV)