The Beauty of Creation

Let heaven celebrate! Let the earth rejoice! Let the sea and   everything in it roar!  Let the countryside and everything in it celebrate!  Then all the trees of the forest too will shout out joyfully before the LORD because he is coming!   Psalm 96:11-13 (CEB)

August 23, 2023

When I was a teenager, my cousins and I would often take a little jon boat out into the local ponds in Sussex County and do some fishing.  I cherish these memories even though I don’t fish hardly at all anymore.  Some of the ponds that we typically went to were in Millsboro; for example, Ingrams Pond and Millsboro Pond were our “go to” places.  We would not only fish, but we would talk about all sorts of things and explore the waters of the pond.

Last week, I had the opportunity to stop by both of these ponds, get out of the car, breath in the air, and experience a little nostalgia. No, I didn’t have a fishing rod but I had the beauty of God’s creation all around me.  In fact, there is a trail in the woods at Ingrams Pond that one can walk on and it’s alongside the water’s edge.  As I experienced this trail once again, I was so thankful to be exploring on such a beautiful morning.  Nature is really amazing when we take time to stop and truly experience it.  Often times, we may take things like this for granted.

Psalm 96 gives us a picture of how amazing God’s creation really is. In fact, the scripture almost “brings to life” this creation. In this passage of scripture, we see an invitation for:
• The sea to “roar.”
• The countryside “celebrate.”
• The trees of the forest to “shout out joyfully.”

The reason the psalmist is giving this invitation is because the “Lord is coming.” I’ve always enjoyed scripture passages that give us imagery of nature and creation being “alive” and worshipping God. As I have been outside in nature a lot here recently, I have been reminded once again of the beauty of creation. Whether it’s hiking a trail, seeing a sunset, looking at the
moon, being out on the water, etc.

Not everyone may be a “nature person”, and that’s okay!  However, there are aspects of nature that can truly take everyone’s breath away.  As you move through the rest of this week, I encourage you to take time to appreciate something outdoors that helps you feel God’s peace and presence in your life. May you and I join in with nature as we celebrate God’s creation and
connect with God in creation with great joy.

As the late musical artist Rich Mullins once said, “Our God is an awesome God!”

Amen.
Jake