-God's Eye  - 

Toni Sample

“I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth.  These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.” Isaiah 42:16(b) 

“When Jesus spoke to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12 

On August 21, 2017, in Greenwood, South Carolina I sat in the front yard of my friends. The sun was shining fully overhead with few shadows. It was 88 degrees. I leaned my head back and glanced for a half a second toward heaven. The full ball of the red-hot sun was visible in the sky.

I pushed the black eclipse glasses over my ears, resting them on the bridge of my nose. Glancing upward again, I lost my breath. Only a small slip, about 1/16th, of the full sun, remained uncovered by the moon as it passed between the sun and the earth, in its path of totality.

That small sliver of light was still lighting the world, keeping it warm, while appearing to our naked eye to be the full burning orb.

When God tells us that he will turn darkness into light, make the rough places smooth, and never forsake us; do we believe? When Jesus tells His followers that He is the light of the world, we will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life; do we believe?

When the moon passed fully in front of the sun, during the eclipse, a corona appeared. The corona is described as the rarefied gaseous envelope of the sun, normally visible only during a total solar eclipse, appearing as a pearly glow surrounding the darkened disk of the moon.

I saw that pearly glow and darkened disk, and it looked like God’s eye looking down on me.

The eclipse was both a scientific and spiritual experience for me, and God gave us both.

Prayer Thank you, God, for allowing us these brief views of your glory. It is so important that we never forget that you are the Creator of the heavens and earth, the moon, and the sun, and that you allow us to walk in the light of your son. It is through Jesus that we are reunited with you, and through Him, we feel the peace and strength that erases darkness from our most difficult days. With open eyes and open arms, we praise you. Amen