What makes us drawn to the rise and setting of the sun, the vast mountains full of wonder, or the crashing sound of the waves as they turn over and over and over again? Humanity is drawn to these constant elements in nature. They are unchanging, constant, steady, motivating, and calming all at once. They are unchanging because we know that the sun promises to set and to rise the next morning, the mountains will always stand tall, and the ocean in all its power will never stop turning up the sea. Perhaps we are drawn to these things as humans because they resemble a characteristic of their creator. God, all powerful, is constant, never changing, and always faithful. When there is nothing stable in our sometimes rocky lives, He is our steadfast in the storm, the sun breaking through dawn, the constant, tumbling waves and the ever standing mountains. These things all reveal His nature and heart towards us. It’s no wonder that we often feel closest to God when we step away from our daily distractions and get alone in His miraculous nature. God demonstrates His love and faithfulness to us in His creation. It’s all around us. It’s not a mystery, He wants us to be captivated by his love.
HE IS DRAWING US CLOSE AND HIS CREATION IS AN INVITATION TO COME AND DISCOVER HIS GOODNESS TOWARDS YOU AND ME.
When the Spirit of God hovered over the face of the waters, (Genesis 1:2) oh, how beautiful His thoughts were at that very moment of time before time. His intensions were for a perfect creation to be established. He spoke, and it came to be and what God speaks no man can undo! If He is not the rock on which we stand, we will surely drown in the sea of life. We were not made to be independent of Him. Yes, he has given us the freedom to choose and we can try to survive without Him, but that would be of no avail to anyone. We would simply be surviving through life and not living it. There are days when I feel heavy with anxiousness, suppressed, and, to be frank, “detached.” There are seasons where I am extremely stressed out, and I will simply detach myself from reality. In this “detached’ phase I start to become unhealthily aware of what I don’t have and who I am not. This phase suddenly turns into a mega scope view of how my life is crumbling apart, smashed like my grandmother’s famous mashed potatoes. Mush. Things are just mush. There is a time to be real and this is that time (actually, it’s all the time). Let’s just all be real. In this place of “self-observation” (where I focus on myself. which makes me more stressed), I slowly began to feel a deep sense of loneliness. Which then puts me in a place of vulnerability. That vulnerability then creates stair cases of insecurity. I didn’t write “walls” because walls protect you, but “staircases” lead you places. Sometimes places you never wanted to go. Our insecurities also lead us places. Then come in the lies. Well, actually, the lies have always been there. They were just subtle and you didn’t hear them sneak in. They always do that. Actually, like worms, they had been eating away your root system a long time ago, but the process was so slow that you didn’t feel a thing. And to be honest, their little nagging teeth felt kinda comforting after a while (more deception). I felt some intense stress when I was in college. The anxiety was so strong that I literally COULD NOT HANDLE it. I had a melt down. Shallow breathing, crying, painful kind of a meltdown. You see, that’s what stress does to you. It cripples you with fear. We haven’t even touched on fear, another giant that I wrote about in a different post “Fear Exposed”. You see, in this state of being vulnerable and carrying around insecurities, the lies start to surface and make an appearance. They do that when we’re the least confident and weak because they know that you’ll listen to them. You may start thinking things such as “people don’t really care about me.” ” I’m not really going to do anything with my life.” Here then comes the comparison, “She has the perfect life.” “He has everything.” Comparison then makes way for depression. It’s just crazy how these things work together like a team and are fathered by one thing…LIES, and the father of lies? Satan. Let that sink in. Lies lead to stress, stress leads to loneliness, loneliness leads to vulnerabilty, vulnerability leads to insecurity, insecurity leads to fear, fear leads to comparison and comparison then leads to depression (or something like that). My tactic should no longer be to detach myself from my surroundings but to engage in them. No more avoiding but instead, choosing. How does this relate to creation and to all that I mentioned earlier? It goes along with the tactic. Engaging in your surroundings. Becoming aware, once again, of the beauty the earth beholds. . It’s in moments of watching a sunset, walking along the beach or sitting at the top of a mountains peek when we are brought back into the reality of God’s love for us, His faithfulness and consistancy in our lives.
IT’S NOT ABOUT CONNECTING WITH NATURE TO CONNECT WITH GOD. NO, IT GOES BEYOND THAT. THIS IS YOU AND GOD HAVING COMMUNION LIKE IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN. IT’S HIM SHOWING YOU HIS CHARACTER AND GIVING YOU AN ACTUAL CONCEPT OF THAT THROUGH HIS CREATION.
It’s in His creation where we are reminded of who He is. For He is a God to be feared. Even the wind and waves obey Him (Matthew 8:27), the mountains tremble at the sound of His voice, and the sun shines forth at His command. We engage oureslves in the surroundings of His creation because when all else is unstable, it is one thing that will always be constant. Thus, it is more than creation itself that we are attracted to, but perhaps it is the nature of Father God that we are truly drawn to…the creator Himself. I believe people from all over, no matter what they believe, are drawn to creation and don’t realize that they are actally being drawn to the character of their creator. How beautiful. It’s time to walk with God in the garden again and choose to eat from the tree of life! It’s time to sever the lies that attack our identity as sons and daughters. It’s time to lay down the things that make us anxious, creating stress in our lives. How can we expect to have a connection with our creator when we are connected to so many bad outlets that surge power through our souls, affecting our mental, physical and emotional health. Allow Him to be the constant in your life. If you know Him, you will know what is truly good.
THE CREATOR INVITES US TO ENGAGE IN A REALITY GREATER THAN THE ONE WE KNOW WITH OUR SENSES.
We can leave stress behind but never responsibility. Remember, the tactic is no longer to avoid, it is to choose better everyday. May we step into this greater reality and commune with the one who calls us. For He is, the constant one.
