Listening to God's Creation

“All creation is meant to be a finger pointing us to ultimate glory, the only glory that can ever satisfy the human heart, the glory of God.”  Paul Tripp

  Did you see the Youtube making the rounds some years ago with three-year-old Mateo. “Linda! Linda, just listen to me!” Little Mateo is very frustrated with his Mom. When she said, “No cupcakes,” Mateo disagreed. After all, he’s at Grandma’s house. Everybody knows Grandma makes the rules at her house, not Mom. Mateo’s mom wanted to set her little boy straight, but each time she began to correct him, Mateo protested with “Linda! Linda! Listen to me!” It’s hilarious and obviously Mateo’s mom found some humor in the whole thing because she recorded it and posted it where it went viral.

  Yet, what isn’t so funny is that too often I know that I’m like Mateo. I’m either so busy or talking so much that I’m not listening to my parent, my Heavenly Father. Are you like me? I find it hard to drive without music or a podcast playing. At the very least I’m catching up on phone calls. Currently, I’m seeking to keep my digital leash turned off. Either I’ve been successful or I’m in a rubber room surrounded by men in white suits. I find I’m often so obsessed with being connected, I miss what God is saying.

  This world is anxious with silence. Every moment of the day is filled with motion and sound. Even in the middle of the night, our phones buzz and beep. Never-ending noise is exhausting. In the midst of all of this God quietly speaks, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10). To be spiritually healthy, we need periods of silence. We need times of indulging in the wonders of God’s creation.

  Ironically, as humanity is the pinnacle of God’s creation, we tend to be isolated from creation. A defining feature of Scripture is how often the Bible points us to God’s world. Scripture assumes a level of understanding about nature. Yet, if we fail to unplug and step outdoors, or experience and engage in God’s creation, our faith suffers.

  Nearly every book of the Bible bursts with references to creation, chronicling in soaring prose the making of the universe, identifying God’s covenant promise with a myriad of colors in the sky. He invites us to gaze in wonder alongside Abraham at the starry hosts, where an even greater promise was written. The Psalmist compares the longing of his soul for God with the thirst of a deer running to the water, fully expecting his readers to get the word picture! He sings of the heavens’ divine declaration, he praises the Lord for making mankind ruler of “all flocks and herds…animals of the wild…birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea…”

  In the earliest book of the Bible, “Ask the beasts, and they will teach you,” exclaims Job, “the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; the bushes of the earth and they will teach you, and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In His hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.” The prophets look forward to the restoration of creation using vivid imagery of a radically transformed created order: wolves lying down with lambs, lions eating straw like oxen, and myrtles and cypress replacing the thorns and briars of the curse.

  The Lord Jesus announced the Kingdom of God with parables about trees, seeds, birds of the air which God feeds, along with lilies of the field He clothes. The Bible at length promises that the consummation of history, like its beginning, will take place in a garden-city atop a mountain, with a river of life and trees whose leaves are to heal the nations.

  Yet, if we never stop and spend time outside in God’s creation, we’ll never fully grasp things Scripture wants us to understand. Technology tends to cut us off from the natural world and the general revelation of God, perhaps more than ever before in history. Whether it’s our temperature-regulated homes and offices, our glowing screens, or our asphalt jungles, much of our lives happen in an artificial world designed to insulate us from nature. C. S. Lewis insightfully said, “We delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment.” To enjoy what God created for us, we must first stop to enjoy it. How can we cultivate this in our lives?

  We simply ask God to help us. Ask the Lord to help you stop, to open  your eyes and ears to experience more of your Father’s handiwork.

  We search out God’s beauty. We study the Scriptures that reveal specific aspects of His beauty. We look for tokens of it in His creation and science. We behold God’s beauty in little glimpses about Him as we search for insight through Scripture, creation, science, and history, and so on—brief glimpses that bring a spark of inspiration to our heart and mind. A life isn’t usually transformed by one huge insight, but by the accumulative effect of many small insights and glimpses of His beauty over the years.

  We experience God’s creation. It’s simple – Go outside! Take a walk in your own yard or a local park. Opportunities to experience the majesty of God’s creation are all around us. Yet, when was the last time you let yourself intentionally get wet in the rain. Let the wind nearly blow you over or walked barefoot through the shallows of a river or lake? When you do one of these things, be intentional and think about God and His created intent. Not only will it lead to a greater sense of awe about God and His world, but you’ll also better understand His written Word.

  We thank the Lord for the beauty of His creation. We verbalize our admiration of God’s beauty and glory. We speak out in gratitude for the small things we see about Him. When we praise Him for small insights into even one facet of His beauty, we’ll often receive more insight, inspiration, and delight. Encountering the beauty of creation is essential to experiencing victory in our lives, especially in this hour when fear, lust, offense, rejection, and violence are increasing in society. God’s desire is that we’d more fully experience the wonder of His creation, realizing that the same Creator-God loves us and we’re His children. Take some steps to encounter and enjoy more of His beauty that He made for you this week.

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.