Creation is BIG; God is BIGGER; I am small

I've always had a healthy respect for nature.  I love it's beauty and am aware of it's strength.  I believe creation points to a powerful Creator.  With that being said, I wouldn't peg either Ron or me as "outdoors men."  Neither of us would consider camping or hiking an invigorating way to spend down time.  Chalk it up to really enjoying indoor plumbing, electricity, a bed, etc, we tend to enjoy nature from a distance. 

Interesting enough, the last two weekends were spent smack dab in the middle of nature, and I was reminded anew of Psalm 19:

 ¹ The heavens declare the glory of God,
   and the sky above^[a] proclaims his handiwork.
²Day to day pours out speech,
   and night to night reveals knowledge.
³There is no speech, nor are there words,
   whose voice is not heard.
⁴ Their voice^[b] goes out through all the earth,
   and their words to the end of the world.

Last weekend we were very blessed to be able to go to the beach for a long weekend with Ron's family.  His mom graciously rented an awesome house at Holden Beach, and the whole family gathered together for a fun filled vacation. 

Not having gone to the beach with kids before, I was unaware of all the creative ways to entertain children via sand and suds.  Ron's mom, Linda, was a pro!  She had a whole host of "tools" to engage kids for hours.  One of the most useful tools was the shovel.  Linda planted her chair on a flat area of the beach, drew a large circle in the sand, and then she, Emma (Ron's niece), and Lita (Emma's friend) went to town digging a minipool in the sand.  They dug for a long time, as in "two whole episodes of Dora the Explorer."  Then when their hole was large enough and deep enough, the girls would run to the ocean with their buckets and fill their pool with water.  The prize was being able to flail around in their ocean front pool.  Linda got all kinds of creative making a wall of sand castles around the pool.  Needless to say, I was very impressed with their work. (see image below)

As I looked around and even walked along the beach there was evidence of many more folks who had used the sand for entertainment.  There were giant sand castles, there were big holes, there were words written in the sand, there were foot prints.  As we left the beach, it was obvious that many had enjoyed the water and sand just as we did.

What was interesting to me was what I saw the next day as we came back ready to enjoy the beach.

All the toil of the previous day was laid flat against the ocean tide.  There was absolutely no evidence of the hard work Linda and co. had put into making their pool.  There were no sand castles, no footprints.  Just flat sand.  In that moment I was reminded of just how small human beings are.  Whether making sand castles at the beach to making international business deals, Ecclesiastes reminds us that actions of man are inherently "vain", "futile", "empty", "meaningless", "temporary", "transitory", "fleeting, or "a mere breath" as the lives of both wise and foolish men end in death.  The conclusion of it's author:   

Here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
   for this is the duty of all mankind.
¹⁴ For God will bring every deed into judgment,
   including every hidden thing,
   whether it is good or evil.

I'll come back to this powerful conclusion.  First, let me tell you about this weekend.  Ron's boss, Jim, invited his staff to join M.O.R.F. (Men's Outdoor Recreation Fellowship of Mt. Tabor Methodist Church...catchy, I know) on the Virginia Creeper Trail.  For those like me who are uneducated in the world of outdoor adventures, the Virginia Creeper is a 34.3-mile rail-to-recreation trail starting in Abingdon, Va., traveling through Damascus, Va. and ending just past Whitetop Station at the Virginia-North Carolina border.  The trail is divided into two sections: the first a 17 mile stretch from Abingdon to Damascus.  We packed our lunch, drove up to Virginia, rented bikes, and shuttled up to the top of the mountain.  As we took what seemed to be a really long DRIVE up the mountain I started to realize that this inexperienced biker was about to ride the whole distance down that we just drove up.  What in the world!

For the next four hours we cruised down the beautiful 17miles of trail.  We crossed over bridges, rode along a creek, ate lunch at an overlook, and generally enjoyed the beauty of being smack dab in the middle of nature. It occurred to me on mile 13 (roughly) that we were at the mercy of the trail.  We seemed to be in the middle of no-where with no cell phone and no idea of how to get back to our car apart from the trail.  We were surrounded by trees and the creek.  In that moment I felt very small and was reminded that creation is big and God is bigger.

So back to Ecclesiastes.  Since everything "under the sun is meaningless," the author concludes that one should "fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind."  Fear God because He is the omnipotence Creator.  Fear God because He is the one who will ultimately judge both the visible and the hidden.  Judgement points to what is "above the sun," that which is eternal.  Praise God that our judgement has been paid by Jesus, who came "under the sun" that we may be right with the One who made the sun.

And not only fear God, but obey Him knowing that His commandments point to the good order established by the Creator for His creation.