“Look at the sun shining in the window,” my counselor once said as she reminded me to notice the “little” signs of hope that God is still with us. I looked up at the small window up in the corner of the room. Sunlight streamed in, but I hadn’t noticed it.
It appears every day, so what’s so special about it? How does that give us hope? Sometimes our eyes are either so glued to our troubles that we can’t see past them to the miracles of life and God’s provision, or we are so accustomed to seeing a miracle that we become blinded to see what a gracious gift it is.
When we were on vacation, we took a riverboat cruise on the Mississippi River. My husband and I got excited every time we saw a bald eagle. A young man in front of us asked, “Don’t you see them where you live?”
“No… More hawks than eagles…”
“We see them all the time in Osh Kosh, so I guess I don’t pay attention to them much anymore.”
Little does he know that God sent me a lesson in those words. Blessings surround me, and yet I don’t pay attention to them anymore. I expect they will always be there, and I don’t see the miracle in them being there at all. Our loved ones, our homes, food enough, our freedoms in this country, our senses, and so many other gifts enfold us. And what a wonder that God speaks daily to us in the miracle with which nature runs its course – the sun by day, the moon by night, all creation speaking faithfully to us.
God never fails to keep nature running like clockwork. The sun lightens our world day after day, even through the clouds. Imagine how cold it would be without its rays of warmth. The moon and stars shine in the darkness of the night. The laws of all creation continue day and night. We can always count on the changing of seasons guided by the never-failing love of God. Nature flows faithfully in all its beauty, each and every creature and created thing a nonstop sign that God watches over every little detail and is with us 24-7.
Just as God doesn’t abandon His creation, He never leaves us or pushes us aside. He is as likely to reject us as He is to abolish the laws of nature.
“I am as likely to reject my people Israel
as I am to abolish the laws of nature!”
This is what the Lord says:
“Just as the heavens cannot be measured
and the foundations of the earth cannot be explored,
so I will not consider casting them away
for the evil they have done.
I, the Lord, have spoken!”
~ Jeremiah 31:36-37
We can find hope in the harmony of nature. God doesn’t abandon or reject it, but He delights in it and nurtures it. He has promised the same for us, but we need to stop our busy lives and look for it, feast our eyes upon it, and let its hope penetrate our hearts.
More Soul Rest Nature Photos from our Vacation
I guess everyone has a right to their own perspective of nature’s paintings. I admired the woman who was soaking up snapshots of everything she could of God’s canvas.
– has come out this week and is packed with so many insights that I have to read it slowly, trying to process one revelation at a time. It is already changing my life. It has shaken up beliefs that have been instilled into me. This idea of doing God more service if I forget about me and concentrate on encouraging and nurturing others. This doing and not just being. I always feel selfish when I take time to nurture myself, not realizing God wants me to take care of myself – to nurture myself in His bottomless fountain of love and security. I’m beginning to understand why it’s not selfish, because it is only through accepting and nurturing myself as the precious beloved of Jesus who wants me to bare my entire vulnerability to Him for healing that I will be able to nurture others with reckless abandon with the same love Jesus gives.
Freed to Fly 