Pondering God's creation this morning. A confession: I do not enjoy God's world as much as I should. I do not just take walks to breathe in the air of nature. I do not consider the birds, the stars, or the trees as I ought. Most of the time I am too busy in my office where the sights are all man-made.Charles Spurgeon talked about nature being important and said, "A mouthful of sea air, or a stiff walk in the wind's face would not give grace to the soul, but it would yield oxygen to the body, which is next best."
Piper has an entire chapter in When I Don't Desire God called, "How to Wield the World in the Fight for Joy."
Help me out:
How do you enjoy creation? What practices help you to wield the world in your fight for joy?
7 comments:
Walks in the rain, spending hours staring at the stars in awe of the heavens, journaling outside...
When I was in college I woud go study at the edge of the lake near our campus. Plane rides are also great, every tme I fly I make sure I have a window seat...helps me to apreciate how small we are and how awesome God's creation is.
ODP, you just rebuked me. I just reserved a plane ticket last week and here was my thinking: I want to get an asile seat so that I can have more room (to my right) and I can get out faster and not have to say "excuse me" to go to the bathroom.
I've got to get outside of my small thinking and position myself to benefit most from God's world.
Buy "The Art of God" and look through it periodically.
Justin,
I look at flowers in detail. Awe inspiring!
Also I appreciate a beautiful golf course, oy wait- maybe that's because I like golf. Maybe not. I can't tell if it is worship or justifying if I'm being honest. But they sure are pretty!
Chase
Justin,
This past hunting season in Oklahoma, I spent more than a few mornings sitting in a tree stand waiting for Mr. Buck to walk within shooting distance of my bow and arrow range. I learned quickly that if I hoped for any success, I had to be perfectly still and stealthly quiet. Any movements had to be preplanned, slow and determined.
At first this was frustrating, until I began to observe and enjoy the wondrous beauty of watching God's Creation wake up and come alive at sunrise. I heard things that I had never heard before. The smallest of sparrows made much noice rustling through the dry leaves below me. Turkeys gobbling to each other, so far away I couldn't see them, but it sounded like they were right next to me. Squirrels jumping from tree to tree; dove flying in and out; redbirds decorating the dried and browned landscape with spots of color only God could splash on His landscape; ducks and geese quacking and chattering at each other in the pristine still pond just to the north of my tree stand.
One morning while waiting, and waiting and waiting... it dawned on me that God created all of this for His glory AND for my enjoyment! My heart began to sing (not out loud though - I was still waiting on Mr. Buck). But the realization of that made the waiting worth while and made me enjoy God even more!
It almost - not quite - but almost made the pursuit of getting a deer secondary.
In case anyone is wondering, the answer is "no." I didn't even get a shot off at Mr. Buck with my compound bow this season. I saw him once behind the trees and out of range - big and majestic. Was he mocking me? Maybe so... but I still enjoyed the moment knowing the God of creation brought him into my sight! Wait til next year!!
In HIS Grace,
Clif
I am in awe of God as creator when I look at the clouds. I think they are so beautiful and they are never the same shape! Also Dallas informed me that I can no longer be afraid of lightning! That the Lord uses lightning to put nitrogen back into the ground to sustain plant life. If he put it in the air, we would all die! So now I am not afraid of lightning.... I sit during a storm and think on God as creator and how awesome He is!
I am still afraid of tornadoes though! That may never change...but I remind myself that God is sovereign.....and I wont blow away in a tornado unless He has predestined it to happen! LOL!
Also my new fav. contemporary song is "Indescribable" by Chris Tomlin....That really describes God as creator and how awesome He is!
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