Do you slow down and take a deep breath when you stop from your busy day and gaze at a rainbow? What about a sunset or the moon and stars? Or maybe the rivers and seas speak to you of God. Seth Lewis beautifully writes about The Language of Rivers and Stars: How Nature Speaks of the Glories of God. All creation declares the glory of God!
It hadn’t occurred to me that creation might have a language. Yet, when I am in nature or just looking at the heavens and the earth, many times, I’m moved to thank God for His creation. And the Bible tells us that all creation speaks of the glory of God.
I want to become more fluent in this language.
“He gave us His creation as a revelation; He made Himself known and invites us to know Him. Its beauty is a reflection of His own glory; its awe-inspiring power and wisdom and design is His work, meant to lift our eyes and draw our hearts to awe and worship, trust and love, and a never-ending desire to know and enjoy the Creator behind every wonder of creation” (Lewis, p. 55, pronouns of God are capitalized ).
In the second part of the book, Lewis uses the creation in Genesis 1 to help us “discover, interpret and respond to the voice of God” (p. 56).
Praising Heavens
“To have light, you must open your eyes. You must receive what is given from another source. That’s true for physical light, and it’s true for the light of knowledge, hope and truth as well” (Lewis, p. 63)
Staring at the full moon in the dark, I breathed in deeply and thanked God for His beauty. Then, I stared at it through my camera and was astonished. Rainbow colors emanating from the moon created a cross.
Truly, this night declared the Good News of the beauty of the Light of the World, Jesus (John 8:12).
“Praise Him, sun and moon;
Praise Him, all you stars of light!
Praise Him, you heavens of heavens,
And you waters above the heavens!
Let them praise the name of the LORD,
For He commanded and they were created” (Psalm 148:3-5 NKJV).
Praising Rivers
“Humanity alone is haunted by this powerful feeling that the world is speaking something deeply meaningful to us … Have you ever considered that the reason why we feel so connected in nature is because that’s what nature is specifically designed to do?” (Lewis, p. 15)
Soaked from the waterfall spray, Keith and I followed our guide through the Zimbabwe wooded trail. After about a mile, the spray overwhelmed Keith, and he moved to a trail farther away from the Falls. Our guide and I trudged on. The roar of Victoria Falls thundered as we approached our heart-stopping destination.
I raised my arms to the sky and shouted, “God is THE Master Artist!”
I caught myself, peeked at our guide, and he smiled, leaned over, and nodded, “Yes, He is the Master Artist.” Together, we recounted the beauty of the Lord. He shared that some cried as they gazed upon this astounding work of God.
“Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
the world and those who dwell in it!
Let the rivers clap their hands;
let the hills sing for joy together” (Psalm 98:7-8 ESV).
Praising Gardens
“The Bible is clear: God is the fashion designer for flowers and the inventor of every raven-sustaining seed” (Lewis, p. 50).
God fashions flowers even for weeds! When I was 6 or 7, I used to gather dandelion and their stems.
Did you know that you can make a necklace and bracelet out of dandelion flowers?
You pick the dandelions with a few inches of the stem left on. Then, you carefully pierce the stem with your fingernail. Place another dandelion stem through the slit. You now have the beginning of a beautiful necklace.
“Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries,
And daub their natural faces unaware
More and more from the first similitude.”(Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 86. From ‘Aura Leigh” Collection at Bartleby.com.)
Roses are my choice today. The petals proclaim the artistry of God. He creates each petal with care.
Have you noticed the delicate colors and shapes of roses and all flowers?
And lilies cup their beauty up towards the heavens.
“Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these” (Luke 12:27 ESV)
Praising Birds
“So nature’s greatest picture of freedom does not live in independence but in the greater freedom of worry-free dependence on God. This dependence is not merely for good–think of how birds fly, of where they go, and why” (Lewis, p. 127).
Breath-taking moments awaited us in South Africa, the home of these “flame-colored” flamingos. There are six species of flamingos, these unique to South Africa. These beauties were beyond our imagination, and that was just one moment of our safari. In a pond, they rest on the Lord’s provision, His rest, His presence, and His guidance.
“Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?” (Matthew 6:26 ESV)
Praising Animals
“There is more to reality than meets the eye. The animals themselves teach us this and call us to respond to their Creator and ours” (Lewis, p. 138).
Looking up, peering into this lion’s beautiful eyes, we smiled, whispered, and took a deep breath. I wondered what this creature was thinking. Hypnotized and gazing in wonder and awe, we rested in this lion’s beauty.
“The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them” (Isaiah 11:6 ESV)
Let Us Declare the Glory of God!
“You have the words. You have the voice. And you can join your voice to the symphony of all things and declare with all of creation the excellence of God’s wisdom (Psalm 104:24), His power (Jeremiah 32:17), His love and provision and goodness and patience and attention to detail and creativity and faithfulness” (Lewis, p. 160, pronouns capitalized when referring to God).
Our God, THE MASTER ARTIST is our LORD (Yahweh). Jehovah-Raah leads us as the Good Shepherd. Jehovah Jireh provides us with all we need, even healing (Jehovah Rapha).
The Way, the Truth, and the Life delivers us from the bondage of sin. Our Savior took the judgment we deserved upon Himself. Our Messiah died on the cross for us. Three days later, He rose from the dead. He is our Resurrection and Life! Jesus is our King of Kings and Lord of Lords, our High Priest, Mediator, and much more.
The Holy Spirit comforts us, convicts us of our sins, teaches us, indwells us, intercedes for us, and much more.
“Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD!” (Psalm 150:6 ESV)
Creator of All, there is none beside You. Thank You for Your gift of this beautiful world filled with delight. We see, hear, touch, smell, and taste the beauty, the music, the soft and the prickly, delight in the fragrance of nature, and the sweetness of Your artistry. Thank You for Seth Lewis and his gift of sharing what You have revealed to him. Pour out Your abundant blessings upon him and his family as well as all who read about Your goodness. Cause us all to stop and notice Your artistry and declare Your glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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