Worship at Sunrise

How can I
Morning after morning
Wrap myself in
All this glory
And not open my
Mouth to praise?

by Alesha Sinks

So often I find myself overwhelmed by the beauty of nature. And yet, so often I fail to step forward into the intended result of awe and wonder…worship.

Isn’t that the purpose of creation?

”The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”
Psalm 19:1 (NIV)

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”
Romans 1:20 (NIV)

In the Psalms, there are examples upon examples of the writer praising God, inspired by and in awe of the glory of God’s creation.

“How many are your works, LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.”
Psalm 104:24

“For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;”
Psalm 95:3-6

Yet so many mornings I hurry, feet pounding across weather pavement, stechting out to reach the sunrise. And when I get there, when I reach the oceans edge with the early light rippling across the waves, when I stand still and breathless at the beauty in front of me, I forget to do the very thing for which my soul was made.

I forget to do the very thing for which my soul was made.


I forget to take my awe of creation and let it lead me into awe of the Creator.

And that’s true of a little million moments throughout my days.
watching pure joy radiate from my son’s face
when that one shaft of light slips through the living room blinds
the first glorious sip of coffee
a peaceful moment, book in hand
a friend reaching out in love and encouragement
that one song playing right, exactly when I needed to hear it
a cool breeze stirring through the hot evening air, summoning us to rest

How often do these moements slip through my grasp, our grasp, awakening joy and peace and hope and beauty, but failing to turn our hearts in gratitude toward their Giver.

I’m practicing.
Practicing awareness in the moment. Practicing giving a practical, out-loud or a quiet, whispered-in-my-heart “thank you God” when I am surprised by joy. Praciticing reflection on blessings at the end of the day or the week or the month and practicing offering my thanks to God then. Practicing to make a seamless turn from “Wow, how beautiful” into “God, You are so beautiful”.

I’m practicing to make a seamless turn from “Wow, how beautiful” into “God, You are so beautiful”.

Will you practice with me? Will you join me in allowing the beauty around us to not just catch our eyes or our hearts, but to turn our hearts toward God?

My prayer for us today is…

Let the beauty we encounter daily lead us to worship.

Be blessed,
Alesha