God gave me a sunset

A couple of months ago, I was feeling really stressed out. I had many complicated things going on in my life, and I wasn’t doing a very good job at coping with them. I was overloaded with work, not sure how I was going to get it all done. Money issues were freaking me out—how was I going to pay all these bills? I was frustrated with the relationships in my life as well—was God going to have me be single forever? What was His plan for me? I was quickly burning out...and I didn’t know what to do about it.

I prayed about it often, but was never really sure WHAT I was praying for—I didn’t know where to begin to ask for help. Everywhere I looked there was stress and problems...where would God even start to help me? My prayer one night was a simple one—”God, give me peace.” I didn’t even want solutions to all my problems; I only wanted to have a little peace.

As I left a restaurant that night with a friend of mine, I couldn’t believe what I saw— words can’t describe it, but I want to try and share this with you. I looked up into the sky and saw the most beautiful sunset I’ve ever seen in my life. To call it “beautiful” is an understatement though—I didn’t breath for a few seconds when I looked at it! I didn’t know such shades of colour could exist in real life! Pinks, purples, oranges, golds, blues—the kaleidoscope of colour was incredible...as far as the eye could see, this sunset lit up the sky, raining beauty on anyone that looked at it. The sheer sense of awe I felt was all-encompassing: how could anyone see this and not believe in a Creator?

When I looked at it, I knew that it was for me. I knew that this was God’s answer to my prayer for peace—because when I looked at this beautiful sunset I couldn’t be stressed. There was no room for stress in my mind—I was only focused on absorbing as much of this beauty as I could. To this day the image of that sunset is burned in my mind as a reminder of how much God loves me.

As we drove away, I looked out the window—the whole city was lit up with this shining heavenly light. I looked around at the other drivers, and no one noticed it. I felt sorrow over this because I knew that I was often no different—consumed by my own worries, I often forgot to look around me at the wonders God has placed right in front of me.

So as you leave this place today, remember to look around. Remember to look up at the sky, peer at the stars, and touch the grass—and know that everything you see and experience was created by a loving, wonderful God—a God that loves you more than you can possibly comprehend.

by Jason Dunn
October 8th, 1999