The Nature Creator

How often we want to be "on the beach." How nice it would be to just drift, free of responsibilities, living each day as it comes, not worried about what other people think. How relaxing to listen to the soothing sounds of the waves, enjoy the delicate beauty of the seashells and worn smoothness of old driftwood, appreciating the enormity of creation, the expanse of sky overhead, the ever-changing cloudscape against the enduring solidity of the landscape. And then the car horn behind us honks, or the phone on our desk rings, or the youngest child cries, and we are back in our day-to-day routine world, where we pick up from where we were before and carry on.

It may be that your particular scene is in the woods, surrounded by majestic, old-growth trees, enormous and heavy with centuries of solitude and endurance through storms and seasons. You draw strength from the solidity of the trees, anchored deep in the ground, gripping the rocks below yet reaching to the skies, giving shelter and sustenance to the smaller creatures around, drawing water up from the buried rivers and releasing a freshness and fragrance into the air that rejuvenates all who breathe it.

Perhaps the mountains are where you go when you disappear, diminished to insignificance and dwarfed by the towering masses of rock, overhung by the looming crags, peak after rough, snow-capped peak stretching off into the distance, so high that the clouds have to move around them, colors blazing as the low sunlight strikes and reflects from them, knowing that small, hidden valleys with pocket lakes are waiting, out of sight, with healing calm and quiet for anyone willing to put out the effort to reach them.

It's possible that the landscape doesn't matter as long as you have the company of your dog, faithful, trusting, loyal, perhaps on your horse, reliable, strong, a willing partner, and together you spend days traveling over the land, camping at night by a stream which is running clear and fresh, sleeping each night with the sound of the water burbling over the rocks and an occasional splash as fish jump or wildlife visit the drinking pool under the mutual truce of life's necessities.

God spoke creation into existence, and then He spoke its nature: "It is good," which is also His nature. Fresh air, clean water, sunshine, and exertion are tonics that can aid in restoring health and balance to the body and spirit because they carry the essence and nature of God, their Creator. People who are fortunate enough to enjoy the experience of regular time outdoors, even in the extremes of cold and heat, wet and dry, storm and wind, are folks who are blessed. All of us, though, have direct access to the source, our Creator and Savior, whose nature and strength and blessing is poured directly into our hearts by His Spirit. The healing calm and quiet, the blessing of unmoving strength, the joy of singing wind and waters are reflections of His nature that we find coming to life through the Spirit when we look into the Word of God and when we fellowship and partake of the interaction of the Body of Christ.

Psalms 105
v.1 Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name; make known among the nations what He has done.
v.2 Sing to Him, sing praise to Him; tell of all His wonderful acts.
v.3 Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
v.4 Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always.
v.5 remember the wonders He has done, His miracles, and the judgments He pronounced

Thank you, Lord, Creator of all, Physician and Healer, that You know how we are made and what we have the greatest need of. Thank You that Your forgiveness allows us to start each day with a clean slate, dropping off the load of the past, beginning again with a light heart and a new confidence. Thank You, Father, that as we celebrate and enjoy our family, our friends, our loved ones, that You are there, also, shedding Your love upon us. Thank You that You have given us healing and renewal for our spirits and souls and body through Your creation in nature, but that You have also sent Your Spirit to dwell within us and nurture us when we are locked away by our responsibilities. You never leave us or forsake us, Lord, and we press forward to the goal You set before us, trusting in Your loving strength and guidance.

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