Nature speaks…
This blog was supposed to talk about how God compares himself and his ways with an eagle (Deut. 32:11), because this impressed me quite a bit when I was reading the Bible. God shows himself in his creation and we can see that if we look. I wanted to write about this and had chosen a time to do this at Lake Constance.
A few days later I was at the lake, stood on the shore early in the morning and marveled at the atmosphere there, the colors, the clouds and the light. Two swans came swimming up to me and started preening in the shallows. The peace was almost tangible to feel. Words cannot express it and so I brought you a photo of it. I could only be in awe and enjoy it!
But this morning kept surprising me: the sun comes and a cormorant lands on a boat close by. Black, slender and somehow mysterious. It then spreads its wings halfway and stands still with its back to the sun like a statue in worship. I suspect it was drying its feathers.
Some time later, from the window, I see a crow flying along at high speed. In flight it drops something onto the patio, flies right after it, picks up something on the tiles and flies away with it. All this at a fast pace. I’m pretty sure this was a nut the bird cracked! There’s nutshells there all the time. So cool and quite clever!
A short time later I spot a green woodpecker. A handsome bird in various shades of green with a dashing red stripe on its head and a dagger-like, powerful beak. He is pecking wildly in the lawn and I see him eating. Obviously he finds a generous breakfast there.
A short distance away in the bird bath, a cute little bird is enjoying the water, spraying and splashing around.
Coincidence? I don’t think so. I rather think God wanted to please me and show me the beauty and abundance of his nature! He showed me his beautiful creation in different acts like in a theater. Isn’t that tremendous? Did God want to make me marvel with that? He managed to do that very well! And so the blog post now got a little different twist.
We read in the Bible how Job is reminded to marvel and recognize God’s greatness:
Pause a moment, Job, and listen; consider the wonderful things God does. Do you know how God gives the command and makes lightning flash from the clouds? Do you know how clouds float in the sky, the work of God’s amazing skill? Job 37:14-16
Even if we can explain so much with today’s science, there is a Creator who came up with it all! I believe that we should continually look and marvel. We see the world every day, it has almost become commonplace to us. And yet I hope that you, too, will always marvel at beautiful sunrises, tranquil shores, amazing birds large and small – and seeing this, reflect on God, the Creator!
God compares himself and his being with an eagle. Perhaps he also wanted to show that he is beauty like the morning atmosphere at the lake, brings peace like the swans, is mysterious like a cormorant, clever like a crow, powerful like the beak of the woodpecker and full of joy like the little bird when bathing?
I believe God has written wonder, as well as longing for him and beauty, into our hearts. We see him through his creation and thus get to know him better. God also shows us in this way how much he loves us and that the relationship with us is important to him! We are invited to marvel like children. And don’t forget: We can decide to do this willingly!
Get involved, look, rejoice and recognize God in his creation!
