Forty three years ago, on Sunday morning, May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted. I can remember that day as though it were yesterday. We went to church, and when driving home, my late husband, Bill, looked in the rear view mirror, and said, “It’s happened. The mountain has done it.” We hurried home and he and our son took off to take photos of the huge event. I stayed home with our daughter and planted a garden in the warm sun. Each time I glanced up and looked, the mountain that seemed to fill the sky, a solid pillar of gray smoke blew straight up. It didn’t stop all day. The power of that eruption was amazing. Here are a few facts:

  1. The mountain lost 1300 feet of elevation at the blast. Before eruption, it was 9677 feet.
  2. Over 230 square miles of forest were destroyed in minutes.
  3. The mountain has had several eruptions. Four major and several minor. The minor ones build up on the floor of the crater making the dome taller than the Empire State Building.
  4. The blast killed the scientist who was studying the volcano, Dr. David Johnston. There were 57 people killed as a result of the blast.

Photo taken one year after the eruption, 1981.

The immense power of that event is minor compared to what God, our Creator has done. At his word, he created our world. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Each day for six days, God created with his word. 3And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. (Genesis 1:1, 3).

That same God who spoke and then so much happened, loves us! How can it be? But he does! The poet king, David said: If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them (Psalm 40:5).

John, the disciple wrote in the conclusion of his account of the gospel, said this:  Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written (John 21:25).

Sometimes there are no words to express the magnificence. We can look at all He has made: the sky, the trees, the mountains, the birds, the fish, the land animals. It’s so much to take in, we aren’t capable.

And so I won’t. I’ll let the song below do a tiny part of what we can’t even begin to express. Take the time to listen. Worship. Thank God for who he is and what he has done. It is so much. It is good.

Please take the time to watch the video below. It’s worth the time. Worship with me.

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