Alaska: The Work of God’s Hands

When God paints the world with His glory, sometimes He does it in broad strokes across waterfalls, mountains, and glaciers. I was able to witness first-hand some of His broad paint strokes on a recent trip to Alaska, aka “The Last Frontier.”

 “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Psalm 24:1)

Our small excursion boat motored through Endicott Arm, a 32-mile-long fjord about 50 miles southeast of Juneau. Towering cliffs loomed over the sometimes 1000-foot deep waterway. We floated past waterfalls and small-ish icebergs as we cruised to the end of the fjord. At one point, the water was both muddy brown from recent landslides as well as blue-green from glacial melt.

At the end of this passage stood the majestic Dawes Glacier, fed by the Stikine Icefield, estimated to be over 3000 years old. The glacier itself is over 600 feet tall and nearly a mile wide. We were able to get within 1/4 mile of the face of this ice mountain, hoping to see and hear a chunk of the glacier calve (break off) and fall into the water.

“…we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.” (Psalm 46:2)

Seeing the face of a glacier was a God moment. I can’t imagine looking at this marvel of blue ice without being awed by God’s creation. Although it may seem cold and immovable, this glacier is in truth, in alive and advancing, according to God’s design.

If that’s not a metaphor for how God works in our lives, I don’t know what is. We sometimes seem cold and immovable, but as God works steadily in each of us, He can move us and shape us into what we are meant to be. 

Eventually, the journey came to an end and we flew back home. As the plane lifted off above Seattle, there was another God moment for me. As I pressed my face to the window, climbing into the clouds, the view was otherworldly. I had a minuscule glimpse of what God can see as He looks down on His creation.

Puget Bay was a splash of blue paint. Mountains, including Mount Rainier, were miniature. Rivers were narrow ribbons of green. This incredible “God-view” echoed the words of Psalm 8:3-4. 

“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which You have set in place,
what is mankind that You are mindful of them,
human beings that You care for them?”

And yet, the same God who formed glaciers, oceans, and mountains cares deeply for us. He knows our names, our needs, and our hearts. The beauty of Alaska was unforgettable, but even more unforgettable is the God who made it all—the One who reigns over the earth, yet chooses to dwell within us.