Beautiful
“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.” Psalm 19:1 / / / “For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof.” 1 Cor. 10:26
I didn’t even see the sunshine, not at first. How soft and warm it felt on my face once I noticed it. I hadn’t been able to feel it right away, let alone to see it staring down at me proudly from the sky where it enjoyed its parking space in God’s heavens. Why hadn’t I noticed such a glorious blessing on a surprisingly chilly day in the midst of a spring that had rushed out from the starting gate vehemently warm? Because of my heart!
I had stepped through the door of the special needs dog room out into the yard still fuming at one of the dogs for eating poop for the umpteenth time and irritated yet again with the dogs for peeing indoors 24-7 due to age, incontinence, and medications coupled with laziness and disobedience. My heart was too filled with the wickedness of anger at the dogs and bitterness and self-pity over my seemingly endless responsibilities to see the beauty of the Lord in His handiwork all around me. I had almost missed the sun. Most of all, I had almost missed the Lord!
Beautiful. God’s Creation is all around us, His magnificence, His love, His majesty are evident throughout the earth. Oh, if only we would see! His very Spirit lives inside us when we believe in and follow Christ and receive the gift of His Holy Spirit. Oh, if only we would realize this! Despite how mankind has wreaked havoc on this earth that He has so lovingly, graciously placed in our care, still if we open our hearts and eyes there is such breathtaking beauty for our eyes to behold. Most of all, there is the Lord whose beauty and glory we can behold forever if we repent, believe in Christ, and follow God and His ways. Oh, if only we would look to the Lord and yield our hearts, hands, eyes, and lives to Him!
How often we miss the Lord, and His beautiful Creation, as we rush around in our little, insignificant, me-centered lives with our human agendas, our hearts filled with sin like mine was that day, like mine is every day until God’s Spirit reminds me God didn’t create us to live for ourselves and this world. He created us to live for Him! When we, convicted by His Spirit, confess our wickedness to Him and seek and receive His forgiveness and turn to Him hungry and thirsty for a fresh filling of His Spirit, and turn to His Word and His ways, it is then with cleansed and devoted hearts we see the sun, the beauty of His Creation, and, most of all, the indescribable beauty of His holiness, righteousness, everlasting love, and outstretched arms beckoning us to come love and worship Him forever!
Oh, come to the Lord! Come to the Lord and see! Beautiful! How beautiful is the Lord! How beautiful is His Creation!