Learning from Lilies: Earth Day

Earth Day is a day to remind each other and ourselves to be good stewards of nature because of all it provides for us. This Earth Day, I'd like to focus on a different aspect of the earth. . . It's ability to teach us.

God is faithful. He is Creator. He designed within nature life lessons. Jesus, himself, used nature to teach spiritual lessons as He did here in Matthew.

I'm learning anew that worry, regret and even striving with all my might do not produce success.

"Do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil, nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little Faith!" 

~Matthew 6: 25-30.

He's not saying here that we don't need farmers, we don't need to plant or gather in the harvest. He's saying our hope for the provision of our needs is rooted in our faith in God. He is our provider, our source. So when our human efforts are not enough, which is all of the time, we need not worry because God is the One who will bring forth the result.  

Next Jesus says, "But seek first His [God's] kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you." Matthew 6:33

If we occupy our minds with God's purposes in the earth as we go about our daily tasks, God will take care of our needs. We see this truth reflected in the flowers and birds of this earth. 

This Earth Day, let us remember to be good stewards of the earth. To maintain God's creation in the way He made it is honorable and helps all life on earth. And let us also take this opportunity to find God and His purposes as we ponder nature. 

Why I Don't Worship Nature

Recently I received an inquiry from someone who had practiced Paganism. The person seemed to be seeking God sincerely, but was confused because of the overwhelming sense of God's presence outdoors, in nature. Paganism puts such an emphasis on nature, that it becomes God to those who practice it. I, too, feel God's presence when I'm out in nature, but I don't see it as a contradiction at all. Here's why...

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands." ~Psalm 19:1 

Nature reveals God to us the way a painting reveals something about the artist. God created it all. It is His artwork, His handiwork. Therefore we learn about Him through nature. We sense His presence there. 

"...that which is known about God is evident...for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power, and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what was made..." ~Romans 1:19-20

It is a subtle trick of Satan to entice us to worship the creation rather than the Creator. God calls it idolatry. He made all this to draw our attention to Himself. He made it all for us. For example, what if a man gave his wife a beautiful new watch and she responded by speaking to the watch, saying, "Oh thank you, watch, for coming to me, for telling me the time. You are so wonderful, watch." How would he feel if she never even looked at him, but only worshiped the watch? This is a simple, human example, but I think it demonstrates how it is when we worship nature. God created all of it for our health, our pleasure, and also to draw us to Himself. It is no wonder we sense God in nature. 

By His Word God created everything that is. He simply spoke and it was. God also spoke to prophets long ago to reveal His plans and laws to the nation of Israel, and thus to the world. Then He revealed Himself most perfectly in Jesus, who is God's Word, the very expression of who He is.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being." ~John 1:1-3

"He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on the earth, visible and invisible...all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things and in Him all things hold together..." ~Colossians 1:15-17

And one more. "God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. And [Jesus] is the radiance of [God's] glory and the exact representation of [God's] nature, and upholds all things by the word of His (Jesus') power..." ~Hebrews 1:1-3 

So let us seek God through nature, and seek Him through Jesus. Let us ask His Holy Spirit to lead us and we will find Him.

To God be the glory!

Empathy for Nature & the Poor

I recently read a list of suggestions for "becoming the answers to our own prayers." These are ways of empathizing with the poor and respecting nature as well. When nature is abused, no one suffers more than the poor.

1. Wash your clothes by hand and dry them on a line. Remember the 1.6 billion people who do not have electricity.

2. Learn to sew. Try making your won clothes for a year.

3. Eat only one bowl of rice a day for a week. (Be sure to take a multivitamin.) And remember the twenty-five thousand people who die of malnutrition and starvation each day.

4. Keep the Sabbath holy. Rest one day a week this year--don't answer the phone or the door, and don't use the internet. Do something that brings you life that day.

5. Go to a city council meeting. Pray. Speak as the Spirit leads.

*Note: This list taken from 'Common Prayer/A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals.'

Think of your own ways to save energy, money and relate to the poor.

Don't forget to pray for them as well. God cares for the poor.

Faith = Lavender for the Soul

Nature reveals so much about God. The more we learn, the more we understand that God is trustworthy. Did you know that Jewel Weed is a natural antidote for Poison Ivy? Did you also know that it is almost always found growing near Poison Ivy? I just learned this recently on a hike with my critique partners (waving to all you, Sharpies). I suspect our heavenly Father created a plant for every need we would have, and placed it close to where it would be needed. Jehovah Jireh is one of his names, after all...The Lord our Provider.

Essential Oils are the lifeblood of a plant. The Bible mentions the usage of oils in healing. Lavender is one of those plants our Creator provided. It has a wide range of uses. It is antibiotic, antiseptic, antidepressant, sedative, and a detoxifier which promotes healing and prevents scarring. I keep a bottle of Lavender essential oil in the kitchen in case of burns and in my "medicine" cabinet in the bathroom with my other essential oils.  Lavender is one of the few oils that can be used as a relaxant as well as a stimulant.

Lavender helps ease stress, relax muscles and calm the mind. It also stimulates thoughts and increases energy, giving that little push we may need to get up and go.

God thinks relaxation and rest are important. He instituted the Sabbath, commanding us to rest one day a week. He knew how we'd be...thinking we're so important we can't rest for a whole day. He also made celebrations throughout the year that included rest from work. And He promised peaceful sleep to His people.

Hebrews 4 encourages us to enter God's rest. Chapter 3 gives an account of Israel's sin of unbelief and how they were prohibited from entering the rest God offered them.

"Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day...For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end." ~Hebrews 3:12-14

Hebrews 3 and 4 demonstrate how unbelief was the sin that caused Israel to strive in the wilderness for 40 years rather than entering into the rest God had hoped to provide for them.

Do you ever strive and worry, causing yourself stress while God patiently holds the door open for you to enter the rest He already provided? 

(Maybe that's only me).

"'Today if you hear His voice do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me.' Who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief."

~Hebrews 3:15-19

When we're not convinced of what we beleive, we disobey because we don't trust God to do what's right and best. We think we know better, whether we admit it or not. That is the cause of sin.

Hebrews 11 tells us that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.

So then faith is the key.

Faith is like Lavender for our soul. With it we can rest easy in God's hands entrusting all our worry to Him. And with it we have the motivation to actively obey His commands. 

The Story Nature Tells

Jackson's Tree, photo by Joshua Thompson

 "We could do an immense service to our world if we would let nature heal, counsel, and teach again."

~Christensen and Laird (Henri Nouwen), "Spiritual Formation: following the Movements of the Spirit"

When we see nature as only something to be used, we miss the story it was created to tell. Even environmentalists can take nature for grantit when they hurry by a city park to get to their recycling rally. They may not notice the beauty and lessons of the old trees swaying above the playground equipment or the wildflowers trampled below the feet of dozens of children on a field day.

Spiritual Formation, based on Nouwen's teaching, goes on to say, "When we contemplate creation rather than manipulating it, we are able to see nature as a gift of God to be cherished and cared for." And I would add, "...to be learned from".

God created the plants for our nourishment and for our enjoyment (beauty). "Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food..." Genesis 2:9. We also learn that the leaves and other plants are for healing. We see the use of oil for healing in scripture again and again. By example, we learn from scripture that we can take life lessons and lessons about God from nature. 

God is referred to as our rock, our light and His voice is compared to thunder. Examples abound. But how did the psalmists and other writers come up with these comparisons?

They took time to meditate on aspects of nature.

I recently received a lesson from an old tree at a retreat center where our church leaders met for prayer. This is what I wrote:

Looking out the window at a very old tree, I notice deep grooves in the trunk, thick chunks of bark protruding and a deep hole in the bark at one place. It has been through so much history. I wonder about all the changes and things it has seen. I sense God say, "It's amazing what one can see or experience when he/she just stays in one place. Stay. Wait. Pray. Watch."

Sky Talk

“The Old Lakota was wise, He knew that man’s heart away from nature becomes hard.”

~Luthur Standing Bear, Oglala Sioux

 This morning on my way to work, God spoke to me through the beauty of the sky. Rays from the sunrise filtered through the clouds like a long-fingered fan, as if He reached down to each one of us making our way on the road. A mile or so farther along I looked up again. The clouds seemed to be spraying slightly darker mists of water in the sky, but it wasn't raining. The sun still broke through along with blue sky in most places. As I turned off the highway, there was a small rainbow in those clouds!

I sensed God wanted to pour out his love and power again. When I saw the rainbow He spoke this into my spirit, "I will renew my promises."

Thank you, Father, for your promises and for your creation that speaks to us.