Stop, Look, and Listen

Matthew 6:29 (NIV)  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

Shimmering ocean blue

Cloudless sky

Haze on the horizon

Gulls gliding

Leaves rustling in the breeze

Mountains in the distance

Sound of wind

Pine branches shining in the sun

Leaves turning gold

Barren, dead pine branches

Spruce needles turning yellow

White birch bark

Brown pine needles on the ground

Lichen-covered rocks

Dead ferns

Lots of dryness

Ground plants turning red

Thick balsam fir branches

Dry leaves on the ground

Acorns plopping to the ground

Fallen spruce and pine cones

Tough, gray, rough bark

Bright red, orange, and mixed maple leaves

Brown, shiny oak leaves

Pond water glittering in the sun

Very low pond water

Dead trees filling a swamp

Red and blue damselflies

Bird song in the trees

Beaver house

Insects illuminated in the sunlight

Lily pads floating

Mud and muck

Shriveled goldenrod

Red squirrel scurrying

Red bushes reflecting on the water

Thin white clouds

Stridulating crickets

Sunlight and shadows filtering through the woods

Gray squirrel foraging

Smell of vegetation dying

Wind moving over the surface of the water

No poetry here - just a list. I took twenty minutes or so one day just observing the obvious. Many of these things are missed by too quick a ride – or even a walk in the Park. But set aside a few meager minutes to pay a little closer attention… and the glory of God comes into sharper focus. Yet even still so many details go unnoticed. For those you must look closer… and closer… and closer still. And in the end what you behold is just the mere reflection of God’s glory. But it’s good. Real good… at least until we get to see Jesus Himself someday. To experience this goodness of what God has made I must choose to simply stop… look… listen... to make the effort to do nothing (there’s a paradox). Then God can show me. Then I can see. Then I can hear. Then I can experience His wonders… all around me. Then worship is inevitable.

Isaiah 35:1-2 (NIV) ¹  The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; ²  it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God.

Ecclesiastes 11:5 (NIV)  As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.

Job 38:4 (NIV)  "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand.

Genesis 1:2 (NIV)  Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

Genesis 1:11-12 (NIV) ¹¹  Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. ¹²  The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:20-21 (NIV) ²⁰  And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." ²¹  So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:24-25 (NIV) ²⁴  And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. ²⁵  God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

PRAYER:  Wow, Lord. Give me grace to see, hear, smell, and touch your wonders… all around me… and then to worship you aright. Let me take nothing for granted, for it all points to your majesty and glory. In the name of Jesus, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott