Pause and Look Today

I stood in awe, peering up at the delicate clusters of pink blossoms overhead that also surrounded me. So intricate. So perfectly designed. So beautiful.

We were traveling down the highway on our “date night” this week, and I couldn’t help myself. I asked Reen to stop and pull over to the side of the road. The highway was lined with the most gloriously majestic pink flowered trees I think I’ve ever seen. I got out of the car and simply stood under their boughs, speechless.

When was the last time you stopped in wonder to stand in awe and admire the beauty of God’s creation? As Spring explodes around us again, think about the fact that the same God who made heaven and earth, didn’t choose to create a black and white, gray and dull world. He chose to create a world with vibrant color, intricate design, and magnificent beauty.

Why? Because not only is He One who delights in these things, but He chose to create a world that speaks to something deep in our souls… deeper than we can understand or describe. He created His world in a way that causes us to want to know Him, our Creator.

God is no ordinary person. He is a person who creates, enjoys, and invites us to behold His beauty. Beauty is defined as, “a combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses…” God’s beauty triggers something deeper, the aesthetic senses of our souls.

So this Spring, as you step into the light, out of the darkness of this pandemic year of blacks and grays, stop and drink in the beauty that surrounds you. Let God not only touch your heart but fill your thirsty soul with Himself. As your Creator, allow Him to draw you near. Choose to be comforted, held, and loved. Let His words calm and sooth your soul.

“But now, this is what the Lord says—
he who created you…
he who formed you…
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;…

“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:1-3, 18-19)