The Sunbeam

© 2017 Bill Murphy

I can’t remember the cause of my depression that ‘Blue Monday.’ It was deep. I felt unloved, unwanted, forgotten and worthless – the state of mind when your prayers seem to bounce off the ceiling. God seemed a million miles away – with his back turned.

I was preparing for work, shaving at the bathroom sink, when I noticed a small sunbeam filtering between the curtains. The tiny shaft fell across a corner of the sink, a small detail barely noticed. Numbly I continued the necessary chore of shaving, my movements automatic. After a few moments – I realized that the beam had moved!  Where the shaft of light had fallen was now in shadow. I was fascinated.

As I watched intently – you could see the small ray of light slowly, ever so slowly – moving! It was then I realized I was witnessing the principle of the sundial. As the earth slowly turned, it caused my tiny sunbeam to move across the edge of the sink. Incredible! The earth is thousands of miles in diameter and the sun millions of miles away and here I was watching the effect of their interaction from within my tiny bathroom! Amazing!

It was then that God spoke to my heart. ‘I made this earth and the sun, and I am greater than they! Just as you have witnessed their movements even here in this small spot, I see you now. I know who you are, where you are, and what you are. And I love you. I’ve just shown you!’

Instantly my depression vanished!

It’s been years since that day, yet every time I see a sunbeam I remember with awe and thanksgiving the day the great God of the universe looked down from heaven and reminded a troubled soul that he is remembered – and loved.

By way of comparison: The earth is 24,887 miles in circumference. If you could drive an automobile around the world at 65 miles per hour non stop, night and day; the trip would take 16 days. Yet I was witnessing the effect of this large globe’s rotation in a small spot of less than an inch – in my bathroom! That tiny sunbeam took 8 minutes to reach the earth, traveling at 186,284 miles per second! If you took that same sun to earth trip at 65 miles per hour in an automobile, you’d be driving (without pause) for 163 years!

It’s a big world in which we live. And what a great God we serve! I, for one, am oh so very thankful!

 

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