The sunrise is a beautiful thing. Soul-stirring, heart-aching, awe-inspiring wonder always captivates our eyes.  The frost of the night melts away, crackling, as the great furnace of the sky takes it’s dominion.  Nature rises to the call. Birds sing, insects hum, and the deer begin to stir.  Everyday this canvas of art, this savage symphony, is displayed before all of creation; yet, who will notice?

Beauty is not reality far off, nor a pleasure to be sought without hope.  Beauty is near us. God is with us.  Every moment, every second, He is speaking.  His breath creates art which dumbfounds our most intelligent scientist, and His thoughts create rhythms which echo through this great expanse we call home, all while we buzz about; ignorant, belligerent, and unaware.

The question must be asked, “What is it we children of creation are so distracted by?  Why is happiness and contentment something often one thousand miles away?”

Inside the heart of every human being is a crucial need: To justify our own existence.  We all do this in different ways: if I could just have a little more impact in my ministry; if I could be a better parent; if only I could find a spouse; when I make x_____ money this year I’ll be satisfied… and the list goes on, and on, and on.

What we often fail to realize is in our efforts to please God, or even just satisfy ourselves and fulfill our dreams and “callings,” what we’re really doing is building another tower of Babel.

The account of Babel is found in Genesis 11.  In the plain of Shinar, a great deal of people decided they should “Build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves” (verse 4).  Even in the earliest of people, there existed a desire to make something that would “ascend to heaven,” so that they could, “have a name.” For some reason, being human is just not enough.  We have to prove to somebody that we are great.  We have to justify our existence; prove our worth.

But what if it didn’t have to be this way.  What if we are enough right where we’re at.

Often times, we hear Romans 3:23, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” and think of this verse only in legalistic terms; we have sinned, so we’re guilty.  However, what if this verse was referring to more than just “right” and “wrong,” or “guilty” and “innocent?”  What if, in actuality, our whole existence falls short of glory of God?  We do not live up to our callings and destinies; our potentials, and our purposes.  So we attempt to fix ourselves, and make our lives worth something.  In this we busy ourselves tirelessly, endlessly, wondering why fulfillment seems like a distant dream.

But God has a solution.

While we utterly fail in proving our worth, Jesus justifies… freely.

In the love of God, Jesus lived the life we could not live, so we could be credited with His righteousness.  Neither is this righteousness however, simply a legal term.  The “righteousness of God” is not just about God’s “good stuff” covering our “bad stuff,” but rather, His greatness and glory, His life and essence, imputed to us.  John 17:23 states, “And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one” (NKJV).  We no longer fall short of the glory of God.  We posses the glory of God, and this changes everything.  

If we are glorified children of God, then we look just like our Father.  And if we look just like the Creator of the Heavens, what is left to prove?  We could not be more glorious than we are.  So what then remains?

Freedom.

Freedom to be as you are, because in Christ, you are beautiful.  You could not be more perfect.

You don’t need to build a mega-ministry, huge company, or perfect career.  You don’t need to have the perfect body, hair, and appearance.  These things are not the foundation of your worth.   You are beautiful, you are loved, you are perfect, right where you’re at.  Your existence, is justified, because in Christ, you’re glorified.

So sit.  Rest.  Breath.  Delight.  Enjoy the sunrise.  There is a symphony playing, but the busy won’t hear it.  It is for us, the restful ones, to enjoy.  Worship Him, in the peace of your soul, for intimacy flourishes in the confident heart.