Rocks on the Beach

       One of the things I do on vacation is to help clean up a little since we don’t have to pay to use the cottage.  My favorite thing to do is work on the beach either picking weeds or moving stones as both keep me outside in the warm sunshine enjoying the weather while I work.  Just yesterday I began picking up some of the stones off the sand and moving them to a more appropriate area where they wouldn’t end up in the water again to wash up on shore.  It certainly is time consuming, but worthwhile when you see the sand become clear of pebbles so it will build better sand castles!!!

       The easiest way for me to do it is to sit down with a shallow container and scoop them up with my hands, and so being in close proximity to them, I tend to notice their unique characteristics.  Varying sizes and colours attract my attention.  I am fond of those that are multi-coloured, those that are opaque-ish, and those that have red in them.  Of course I also appreciate any that include flecks of metallic shimmers.  Usually, a few of them end up in my pockets to bring home because I like them or see a use in them.  This year I found one of the whitest I have ever found (without discoloration).

       Despite my distractions, I do manage to get the work done one container at a time, but as I do, it is easy to ponder how the stones relate to us as humans.  We are all so different (Seriously- thank You Lord!!!) not just in looks, but in human spirit and personality.  I can’t imagine a more boring world than one where the people were the same!  Sure there are times I wish everyone thought like me (considerate driving) acted like me (with integrity…), with the same attributes so I wouldn’t get frustrated (dependability) and always did everything right like me… Yep, I really wrote that because we usually consider everything we say as right despite our limited/ incomplete personal knowledge and also human lack... I'm right, aren't I?

       Yet God in His wisdom made us all different in looks, personality, talents, heart, spirit, skill, energy levels, creativity etc, etc.  And how wonderful that is because He has made life infinitely interesting by doing so!  More:  Difficult?  Sometimes.  Trying?  Often.  Frustrating?  Daily.  Definitely interesting though, and almost always a growth or maturing experience.  He has created all things and all things were created for Him. 

Are you going to tell Him He was wrong?

Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.  1Tm. 1:17

For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:  Col. 1:16

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.  Rev. 4:11

Hand of God

       It was a warm, late July day as I sat alone staring out into the small bay of one of the Great Lakes.  The birds were chirping, the crickets playing their tunes, the warm breeze caressed my shoulders and I gazed at the beauty of God’s amazing creation.  Without anything to spoil my pondering, I looked out and noticed the bay seemed to almost be in the shape of a hand placed down for stability and support.  Since God created the universe with His word, I imagined His hand must have been put down when he planted the Garden of Eden and left an indentation which then filled with water and made this bay.

       Okay, so it’s a fanciful notion not based in any fact other than the Lord having planted a garden (Gen. 2:8) as opposed to Him speaking it into being, but it also made me wonder how anyone could possibly look at creation and think it happened by accident or was a coincidence.  Perhaps the problem is that most of us are city dwellers and we forget what nature is really like: beautiful in its infinite variety.  Even man, for all his creativity and amount of people, has to remake old classics- in movies, TV shows, clothes, furniture, etc.

       But God (I sure do like saying that!) made the universe with such a variety that (they say) no two snowflakes/ fingerprints have been found to look alike.  It shows in the scene I wake up to these vacation days: pine trees with needles of varying length with shades of blues and greens, wildflowers with an artist’s palette of colours shaped in a variety of forms, insects with differing body shapes used for multiple purposes, and rocks that are too diverse to describe.

For the invisible things of him (God) from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood (observed) by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they (man) are without excuse:  Rom. 1:20

       Man has no excuse for not ‘seeing’ God.  All we have to do is look around us and we can see the hand of God in all creation- the heavens, the earth and all her people.  In fact, according to this scripture, we can see the invisible things of Him in creation- which invisible things I am not sure of yet.  Perhaps it is His nature or attributes we can ‘see’ with our understanding.  No matter how you look at it, we can know God better by learning from creation.

       The hand of God is seen is the luscious rainforests and the barren deserts of this earth, from the highest mountains to the lowest valleys, from the cold immense oceans to the warm hot springs in the hills.  No matter where you look, God’s hand in creation is seen.  Just look into the face of your loved one (for the most part), and notice how their body breathes appropriately, their heart beats in time, their eyes see your face, their ears hear your voice, their brains send signals to their bodies, and their arms and legs can be used to walk over to you and give you a great big bear hug.

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God… 1Pt. 5:6

The hand of God is everywhere we look… if we look with open hearts.