“I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.”

George Washington Carver

 I’m fortunate to live in a place where I get to see some astonishingly beautiful things every time I leave my house. No, I’m not talking about the lovely homes or the attractive recreational facility just a few blocks away. I appreciate these man-made things and use them gladly. But they can’t hold a candle to the things made by God.

I often think about what my father-in-law used to say. “Imagine how beautiful the earth must have been in the beginning, if what we are seeing now is under the curse of the Fall.” We know from Scripture that everything on the earth was adversely altered by sin coming into the world through Adam and Eve. Romans 8:21-22 says the entire creation is groaning under sin’s effects, waiting for the day when all will be restored to its original beauty and design.

But even though it’s not in its original glory, there is still enough of the Creator’s touch left in nature to make it perpetually enchanting. I never seem to tire of God’s many and diverse gifts to us—blue skies, clouds, dew, rain, warm breezes, trees, shrubbery, flowering plants, vines, grasses, perennial and annual flowers, and (in Carolina anyway) red earth.  Whether I’m looking up, down, or around me as I walk, each step I take brings something beautiful into view, a gift from our lavishly creative God.

The apostle Paul noticed God’s generosity to mankind, writing in his first letter to Timothy: “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17, NKJV).

Because He’s a living God (unlike the idols worshipped by pagans), God’s creations have life within them. When I walk around our neighborhood from season to season, I can see how the same plants, trees, and flowers are changed by built-in cycles of life and death, dormancy and resurrection. What looks dead will spring to life once again by God’s power. “You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; and You renew the face of the earth” (Psalm 104:30).

When I was a kid, one of my favorite things to do was to sit outside after dark and try to take in the enormity of the night sky. The stars were beautiful to look at, seeming to wink at me against the inky black expanse, yet they were haunting too as they reminded me of how small my life is on this tiny planet called Earth. No wonder the psalmist asked in wonder, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man, that You are mindful of him?” (Psalm 8:3-4).

To see the symmetry of the stars and planets and the expanse of the galaxies should be enough to convince any of us that the One who hung the stars in space is big enough to take care of us. Our efforts and abilities are minuscule compared to His, so why would we trust in ourselves to take care of our lives?

If He has made a planet this habitable for us, taking into account every detail of what we would need to thrive in this environment (even down to painting nearly everything in nature with the color green since it is the easiest color on our eyes), we can trust that He has our best interests at heart. He is not out to destroy us, but to bless us. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).

As beautiful and interesting as the growing, rooted plants and trees are, and as much as I enjoy contemplating the mysteries of the sky above,  I think my favorite part of nature is the animal world. I love it when I’m walking and unexpectedly run across a creature of any kind. It might be a fawn, a chipmunk, a rabbit, a turtle, or a variety of birds and insects. I’m happy to see any of them cross my path – even if it’s just a beetle scuttling along. All living creatures (yes, even some snakes and spiders) make me smile.

Why? Well, for a couple of reasons. First of all, they share a common life source with me. My heavenly Father, who made me, also made them! Yes, we are very different because they were not made in His image, as I am. But I can still see His life, His glory, and His care in their life cycles, instincts, and adaptability to their environment. I’m linked with them, not through an evolutionary chain of random events, but through the gift of life bestowed on both of us by God himself.

There’s another reason for my delight in watching animals, birds, insects, and marine life. They aren’t aware of it, of course, but they all model for me what obedience to the Creator’s design looks like. They are utterly dependent upon Him for their life and sustenance, and they aren’t interested in being anything other than what He created them to be. Oh that we human beings could be that simple!

Among the writers of Scripture, King David seemed to have the most interest in animals. That’s probably because he had lots of opportunity to observe them when he tended sheep for his father. He wrote in Psalm 145, “The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made. … The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. … Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever” (vv. 13, 15, 21, NIV).

I believe God gave us the created world for both our enjoyment and our edification (or learning). It teaches us spiritual lessons (like humility and trust) that help us in our relationship with God. When we ignore nature, because we figure man is the only true measure of life, our arrogance can lead us into some pretty unusual ideas.

You may remember a story that came out a while back about a Canadian couple from Toronto who decided they would “keep secret” their third child’s sexual identity. Even the grandparents weren’t told if the child was a boy or a girl. Their reason for this bizarre move? So the child would be “free” to determine his/her own “gender identity.” It all sounds wonderful to adherents of the new world of political correctness, but the truth is, they are robbing their child of the most fundamentally important gift of life: knowing who we are in the world. People aren’t equipped to make these kinds of decisions for themselves!

God has created us in His image and for His glory. Genesis 1:27 says “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27). We’ve been individually designed by God and are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Ps. 139:14). Like nature, we are utterly dependent upon Him for our existence and our sustenance. Like the creatures of nature, He feeds us with the bounty of food He has provided. When we forget where our lives come from, we lose our true sense of identity and purpose.

Jesus was keenly aware of the life lessons we can learn from nature. He urged His disciples to “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? … See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. … Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life” (Matthew 6:26, 28-29, 25). In other places, He used wind, sky, rain, seas, rocks, fields, fig trees, mustard seeds, vineyards, pearls, pigs, sheep, goats, oxen, fish and serpents to illustrate the kingdom of God. He knew that these elements of nature were readily observed and known by those He spoke to.

Whenever I tire of mankind’s senseless attempts to find meaning in life outside of God, I can retreat to nature and see how well things go for those who submit to His authority and His design. When I’m tempted to give in to my sinful nature and go my own way, or I start to worry that everything depends upon me, I can find strength to trust His good design for my life by looking to the birds, animals, and plants that He feeds and cares for.

And when I begin to get too big for my britches, I need only walk outside and look up into the vast night sky to be reminded how small I am in relation to God, my Father and Creator. This teaches me to “walk humbly with [my] God” (Micah 6:8).

In Romans 1, Paul exposes the foolishness of those who say they aren’t sure if there is a Creator God or not. For all of nature’s gifts and wonders testify to His nature, power, and glory. In this passage Paul echoes the message of Psalm 19: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world” (vv. 1-4).

So, Paul argues, no person on earth can claim he’s never heard God’s voice or seen Him at work. Everyone will be “without excuse” because “His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made” (v. 20). Perhaps that’s why the secularists are working so hard in our culture to rid science of any belief in a Creator. If they can convince themselves (and others) that all we see can be explained by material elements working at random in a meaningless universe, they don’t have to worry about judgment. But we know from Scripture that this is futile. Nature still broadcasts 24/7 the power and glory of our God and no one will be able to say He could not be seen and known!

For those of us who do know Him, nature provides profound spiritual lessons and perspectives for our enjoyment and edification.  Have you taken time to enjoy the “unlimited broadcasting station” today? When I start to feel overwhelmed, discouraged, or anxious about my life, I can retreat into the beauty of my Father’s world and find peace as I see how He cares for all He has made.  Jesus assured us that we are worth far more than the sparrows and flowers, so I can rest in the fact of His love and care for me.

And when sinful men seem to be gaining control and threaten to overthrow all that is good and right in the world, we have nature to remind us that the universe is still in God’s capable hands. We need not fear an overthrow by the enemy, “For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are Mine. … the Mighty One, God the Lord, has spoken and called the earth from the rising of the sun to its going down. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God will shine forth. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent” (Psalm 50:10-11, 1-3). He will have the final word and we are secure in Him! Let that reality cheer your heart and give you courage for all you face today.

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