I Believe: Additional Reflections on Nature and Faith

"Ask the animals and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky and they will tell you; or speak to the earth and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you.  Which of these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?  In His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind."  (Job 12:7-10)




If you missed part one of this essay, Reflecting on Nature and Faith, I encourage you to read it here first!


I believe that God speaks through nature, his creation, to everyone, but I think he speaks to naturalists and those interested in the natural world in very special and specific ways.


He speaks to biologists, revealing himself in the beautifully balanced ecosystems around us:
"He [the Lord] makes springs pour water into the ravines; it flows between the mountains.  They give water to all the beasts of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst.  The birds of the air nest by the waters; they sing among the branches...  There the birds make their nests; the stork has its home in the pine trees.  The high mountains belong to the wild goats; the crags are a refuge for the hyrax...  How many are your works, O Lord!  In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.  There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number - living things both large and small."  (Psalm 104:10-12, 17-18, 24-25)


He speaks to botanists, revealing himself in the processes of photosynthesis and assemblages of plant communities:
"I [the Lord] will put in the desert the cedar and the acacia, the myrtle and the olive.  I will set pines in the wasteland, the fir and the cypress together, so that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the Lord has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it."  (Isaiah 41:19-20)


He speaks to geologists, revealing himself in the vast ages of rocks and timescale of geologic processes:
"Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God."  (Psalm 90:2)


He speaks to oceanographers, revealing himself in the deep, mysterious expanses of the seas: 
"Others went out on the sea in ships... They saw the works of the Lord, his wonderful deeds in the deep."  (Psalm 107:24)


He speaks to meteorologists, revealing himself in the power of storms, the gentleness of spring rain:
"He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; he sends lightening with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses." (Psalm 135:7)


He speaks to astronomers, revealing himself in the vast reaches of our universe:
"When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?"  (Psalm 8:3-4)


He speaks to farmers and gardeners, revealing himself in his plan to care for and sustain us through the earth:
"You [the Lord] care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it."  (Psalm 65:9)


He speaks to the whole world, to anyone who will listen:
"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."  
(Romans 1:20)




God began his story with us in the Garden of Eden, a place of pristine natural beauty and utter perfection, where we walked with God until we, humans, promptly ruined it.  But God didn't give up on us.  

God brought his chosen people, the Israelites, out of slavery, promising to go with them, leading them into a promised land of natural abundance and peace, a plan that sounded great until we, humans, promptly ruined it.  But God didn't give up on us.  

God himself came once again to live among us, in the form of a man, Immanuel, God with us, Jesus Christ.  He came to be love, to teach us how to love God and love each other.  He came to serve and to sacrifice, giving his own life in exchange for ours.  Taking the punishment of death that we deserved, he defeated death once and for all so that by believing in Him, by believing in the work of Christ on the cross and in his resurrection from the dead, we can receive the gift of living forever in the glorious presence of God, living in perfect harmony and peace and beauty on the New Earth, finally experiencing life with him the way he originally intended.  

If that is too incredible to believe, think for a few minutes about cell division, about how human life begins and progresses.  Think about how a human eye works, or the human brain.  Think about mountain building processes and bird migration, ocean tides and outer space.  Think about how sunlight provides the basis of all life on earth, and about how perfectly positioned the earth is to sustain life.  

If a loving creator God and a resurrected Christ seem too incredible to believe, take some time to think about how incredible life really is.  We live in a world that is incredible beyond description. 

When Christ came to earth, he came offering the forgiveness of sins, through his love, buying us back from the slavery of sin and death.  

Jesus said,
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."  (John 3:16)

This promise is for all of us, all of us who look out on the natural world and see a great and mighty God, all of us who look inward at ourselves and see unworthiness and faults, all of us who look out again to see and accept Jesus, his love, sacrifice, and forgiveness. 

When Jesus ascended into heaven, he left us with the promise of the Holy Spirit, a comforter and guide, the very presence of God indwelling those who believe (John 14:16-17).  The same spirit that whispered to Elijah in the stillness after the storm (1 Kings 19:11-13), the same spirit that called to Samuel in the dead of night (1 Samuel 3:2-10), is speaking to us now, through his Word, through other believers, and through nature.



For those who ask for a "sign," I challenge you to look out and see, truly see, the signs all around us.  

Look at the ocean and see God's power; 
look up to the mountains and see God's eternal nature; 
look across wildflower meadows and see God's beauty; 
look at fields of abundant harvest and see God's provision; 
look at the birds and see God's tender care for his creation; 
look at your own body and see God's wisdom and intricate design; 
look at your own life and see God's plan and provision; 
look at love and goodness and kindness, and see God himself reflected, though imperfectly, in our lives.


Seek God and you will find him when you seek him with all your heart.  (Jeremiah 29:13)

Come near to God and he will come near to you.  (James 4:8)

Resolve to believe, and He will help you overcome your unbelief.  (Mark 9:24)

Comments

Post a Comment

You Might Also Like:

Birds of the Desert: Residents & Spring Migrants

Image
Nearly everyone knows the desert as a barren, desolate land of extremes: high heat, low precipitation; little available food and water; prickly, spiny, unfriendly plants growing in a sea of rocks and sand as far as the eye can see.  But for those who stop and look closer, the desert reveals itself as the beautiful, incredible, mesmerizing place it truly is, teeming with unexpected life. Juvenile male Costa's Hummingbird visiting chuparosa blooms next to our campsite in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. I particularly love the desert in the spring, when the annual wildflowers, cacti, flowering trees and shrubs are all in bloom.  (I've experienced the desert in the searing 120 degree heat of summer, and the rainy, even snowy cold of winter... and spring wins every time!)  Eric and I just returned from a week in the Colorado desert, exploring the imperiled, accidental Salton Sea (more on that coming soon), the vital wetlands of the Sonny Bono Salton ...
Read more

A Shorebird Primer: Godwits, Curlews, Willets and Whimbrels

Image
For those of us living in the Great Central Valley, autumn is the time to head to the coast.  Of course, there is no bad time to visit California's magnificent coastline.  But as the heat and haze of summer drag on in the Valley, the sea becomes increasingly tantalizing: September and the onset of autumn bring sunny weather and an abundance of migratory seabirds and shorebirds to our coast. A new birder visiting California's Central Coast will undoubtedly be met with a splendid array of very confusing birds.  Among these are small shorebirds like  "peeps" (sandpipers), Sanderlings and various  plovers .  But the larger birds can be just as confusing, until you learn a few distinguishing features.  Four large shorebirds that are commonly seen (and commonly confused) along California's Central Coast are Godwits, Curlews, Willets and Whimbrels. Marbled Godwit (upper left), Whimbrel (upper right), Long-billed Cu...
Read more

Joshua Tree Woodlands: A Tale of Sloths, Moths and the Trees that Need Them

Image
In 1844, early California explorer John C. Fremont gave a somewhat scathing review of Joshua trees when he wrote, "...their stiff and ungraceful form makes them to the traveler the most repulsive tree in the vegetable kingdom."  Rather unkind, don't you think?  But when Joshua trees were formally described by scientist William Trelease in the 1890's, he noted that Joshua Trees are "the most attractive of all the Yuccas."  I am inclined to agree with this sentiment, and must disagree most heartily with Lieutenant Fremont! I, for one, adore Joshua Trees, with their whimsical shapes and great ecological significance!  If you struggle with plant identification, the iconic Joshua tree, hallmark of the Mojave Desert, is a good place to start.  With densely spiked tufts protruding from the ends of gangly arms stretched towards the heavens, this looks like a plant straight from a Dr. Seuss book....
Read more

Birding in Adverse Weather Conditions: Wind and Rain

Image
Though I often extol the virtues and merits of winter in the Central Valley , especially when it comes to birding, the whole truth is that we experience "bad" weather also, just like anywhere else.  But even when the winter weather rolls in, the birds are still out there!  And sometimes, despite our best planning efforts, a birding day happens to coincide with crummy weather.   In that case, what's a birder to do?  Usually, we go birding anyway!   Birders far more intrepid than I regularly brave the ice and snow of northern winters to see their favorite birds, so perhaps you should look to them for real tips on winter birding!  For those of us in the valleys of California, the worst weather we see - wind and rain - is really comparatively mild.  Birding on an extremely windy day! I don't know of anyone who actually likes birding in the rain.  But I would argue that birding in the wind is just as aggravating as trying to bird in the rai...
Read more

All The Ducks!

Image
On a recent birding trip to Merced National Wildlife Refuge, I tallied up a list of sixteen different species of ducks.  Only a few more species, around twenty in total, are expected in the Central Valley of California's freshwater marshes during the winter, so I consider that to be an excellent day for ducks! North American ducks are broadly separated into two categories, largely based on their methods of foraging for food.   Dabbling ducks , also known as "puddle ducks," tend to frequent shallow water, where they are commonly seen tipping bottoms-up to feed on plant matter and invertebrates in the water and on the muddy bottom.  They are most at home in water, but walk easily on land as well, as their legs are positioned near the center of their bodies.  The wings of dabbling ducks are relatively large, which allows them to take off from the surface of the water, straight up into their air.  Dabbling ducks almost all nest on the ground, near water....
Read more

Winter Gulls: The Great I.D. Challenge

Image
Gulls are a fun challenge for birders, from beginners to experts.  A few things make gulls an interesting study: they are large and conspicuous in their open habitats, so they are easy to see, easy to put a scope on, and easy to watch and study for long periods of time.  Furthermore, gulls are almost always identifiable as gulls; none of this confusing warbler/vireo/kinglet nonsense! And yet, gulls are almost impossibly difficult!  (Though perhaps not nearly as difficult as Empidonax flycatchers!) An intimidating scene to many a birder: a mixed flock of gulls.  I see five different species of gull here. Oh, and one American Coot in the background. One of the reasons they are so complicated is most gull species take two or three years to achieve adult plumage, and go through multiple molts in a year.  So, you may be looking at three or four gulls together that look like four completely different species, when they are actually just different ages (...
Read more