I never anticipated that my new hobby would give me an entirely new outlook on creation. It’s like I’m seeing the world for the very first time.
Since I bought blueberry bushes, I am noticing bushes and trees all around me. Many of them are bare wood and look like they have been intentionally trimmed to await the next growing season. People do that?
I’m noticing the bushes and perennial flowers in my very own flowerbed (that my husband planted, of course). They bloom at different times. They grow at different rates. They have different colors.
I’m watching my very own garden vegetables grow before my eyes from a seed! How in the world is that physically possible?
I hope I never lose that amazement.
As I was contemplating my new “vision,” I realized that this is exactly how some of us go through life, spiritually. God gives us reminder after reminder of his presence, of his purpose, and of his plan.
By watching plants die every winter, we are reminded of our own impending physical death. By watching new life burst forth from those same plants or their seed, we are reminded of God’s plan to give us life after death when we believe in Christ. By watching healthy plants bear fruit, we are reminded that we weren’t given new life in Christ to remain stagnant but to produce good works to the glory of the Father.
Yes, God gives us plenty of reminders in nature all around us. But he gives us other reminders, too. It may be in the form of the copy of Scripture in a drawer. It may be in the form of a soldier giving his life for the freedom of those he represents. It may be in the form of a follower of Christ urging you to follow Him, too.
Yet sometimes we – believers included – don’t see the very things God has set right out in front of us.
Jesus himself said in Matthew:
“Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’ (Matthew 13:13-15)
My eyes have been opened this spring for the first time to the wonders of God’s beautiful creation.
May our spiritual eyes be open to the truths the Father wants us to understand. May our hearts be ready to accept.
What about you? What has God put right in front of you that he wants you to see? If you can’t see it, pray that he will open your eyes.