Have you ever noticed how artistic God is?  We see His handiwork in every sunrise and sunset, in fields of flowers, in the trees swaying softly in the breeze, majestic mountains, and the vast bodies of water.  One of my favorite displays of His glory is the sunrise.  The brilliant, painted sky brings words of praise to my lips every single time I witness it.  I praise God because I recognize that He didn’t have to create such beauty and wonder, yet in His love for us, He gives us the gift of brilliant artistry in every corner of our world.  

Notice in the verses below how nature declares the glory of God:

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. 

~ Psalm 19:1-4

Just as in nature, He created diversity and beauty in each one of us.  He created some of us to be leaders of ladies studies, some of us to counsel one-on-one, some of us to lead by example as we speak volumes without ever saying a word.  Some of us are quiet.  Some are outgoing.  Yet God created each of us to be lights in our own way, and when we honor Him by using the gifts we are given, we shine.  

Just as the sunrise glorifies God, we glorify Him when we apply our knowledge from His Word to our lives and serve Him:

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. 

~ Colossians 3:12-17

God created each of us to do great things in His name!  To praise Him.  To serve.  To love.  To teach.  To honor.  To protect our marriages.  To train our children.  To lift those who have fallen.  To encourage. To glorify God.

Dear Sisters, when I see the reflection of Christ in your life:  I see the sunrise in you.