November 17, 2025 Redwoods and Eternity

Lord, through all the generations you have been our home!  Before the mountains were born,  before you gave birth to the earth and the world,   from beginning to end, you are God.  You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals!”  For you, a thousand years are as a passing day, as brief as a few night hours. . .  ​Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.”  Psalms 90:1-4, 12 NLT 

I’m in California for two weeks for work in November, to wrap up a big project. It’s very easy during the week to get wrapped up in how important this temporary project feels. As I’m in California over the weekend, I wanted some time to hike in nature. Close to the coast of California is one of the last locations that the redwood still grow. They still grow here due to the beautiful fog that helps water them. 

As I was hiking in the redwoods, my blood pressure decreased. I began to think about the expanse of time … not just my own limited time here and what I want to do with it. I wanted to number my days aright, like today’s psalm says in another translation.  

These redwoods have been here for decades, for thousands of years, for eons. They had a slice of a redwood trunk up and had counted all of the rings for us: that tree was born before Jesus was. But even older than that specific tree is God. 

The psalmist reminds us that God was there before the redwoods, that he was there before the mountains, before fog existed on earth. Standing under a redwood tree taller than a 27-story building and older than things I can barely imagine, I felt a sense of God’s eternal nature. And my heart felt at peace.  

Reflect: How does nature help us to understand God more? When was the last time you spent time in nature? What is something really old that you can think of and know that God is older?  

Pray: Lord, thank you for the redwoods, for the mountains, for the sea and the fog. Thank you for everything you have created to remind us of how much bigger you are. Remind us that you’ve given purpose to our tiny slice of life, and remind us that there are also things that are bigger than us. Amen.  

May you feel God’s presence with you,  
Sarah Visser-Kincaid