July 4th speaks to many people on different levels. Some will celebrate the birth of our nation. Some will look forward to the cookouts and grilled burgers, hot dogs, brats, and myriads of other concoctions. Some will relish the day off work and find themselves laying in a hammock. Some will attend a baseball game with the family.

But a good majority of people will take part in and enjoy fireworks-professional or personal. They know just where to park to see the display (and avoid a massive crowd of people). I have only been to a couple of fireworks shows sponsored by organizations who pay big bucks to entertain. And I must admit that I have been impressed by the ingenuity of humans. Sort of reminds me of Gandalf’s displays in the Fellowship of the Ring when he visited the hobbits.

But last night it wasn’t human at all. It was all God. I was struggling to sleep last night and because of that, what I would have normally missed because I was sleeping, I saw God’s creation on full display. It was God’s Sound and Light Show. Didn’t cost me a dime to watch. I didn’t have to sit in a chair on a hot and steamy July evening getting eaten alive by all kinds of pesky bugs. I had a front row seat at my front door or looking out a window at the back of the house. Thunder. Lightning (and plenty of it). Rain (more than plenty). All combined to give me a pretty impressive display of God’s magnificent creation at work. I know there will be people who will downplay it and say, “Well, that was just creation reacting to changes in the atmosphere…blah blah blah.” I can say they are correct, but my next question is, “Who made it?”

Psalm 19:1-4 says, “The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world.”  Psalm 8:3-4 adds some thoughts to that: “When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers-the moon and the stars you set in place-what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human being that you should care for them?”  Verse 9 completes that chapter with the following words: “O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!”

Next time you look into the night sky or see a sound and light display, give some thought to the ONE who created it. It wasn’t human hands and we certainly can’t duplicate it. Psalm 14:1 also adds this: “Only fools say in their hearts, ‘There is no God.'”

{All Scripture is from the New Living Translation}