The Wonder of Nature

I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. - Job 42.5

Growing up around the woods and waters of Midwest America, I've been fascinated with natural wildlife native to our region. But on a recent trip to the California coast, I found myself staring in breathtaking wonder at snorting elephant seals, barking sea lions, and a forest of silent redwoods. I watched pelicans soar in formation, and I saw migrating whales spouting in the distance. Together they are just a sampling of the millions of species that make up the intricate and delicate balance of nature.

According to the Bible, the variety of the natural world is designed to do far more than inspire childlike wonder. The mysteries of nature can help us come to terms with a God who allows inexpressible, unexplainable pain and suffering.

We see this in the epic story of Job. While he was suffering, Job didn't know that God had such a high regard for him that the allowed Satan to test his faith with a series of loses.

What emerges is this eventual, unavoidable conclusion: A Creator who has the wisdom and power to design the wonders of nature is great enough to be trusted with pain and suffering that are beyond our ability to understand. In awe, Job proclaimed, "I know that You can do everything" (42:2). We can trust that kind of God - no mater what.

If God's creation helps us see

What wonders He can do,

Then we can trust His promises

For they are always true. - D. De Haan

It's good to worship God in nature

if it leads us to worship the God of nature.

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Job 36:26-33

How great is God - beyond our understanding! The number of his years is past finding out. "He draw up the drops of water, which distill as rain to the streams; the clouds pour down their moisture and abundant showers fall on mankind.

Who can understand how he spreads out the clouds, how he thunders from his pavilion? See how he scatters his lightning about him, bathing the depths of the sea.

This is the way he governs the nations and provides food in abundance. He fills his hands with lightning and commands it to strike its mark. His thunder announces the coming storm; even the cattle make known its approach.

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God is so wonderful... as my prayers are being answered... just couldn't believe that it just happened...