At any point today that you are outside or can see outside, take one moment today to look around you. Don’t miss what God has waiting for you, and what God says to you. If you take a moment to listen, you’ll be struck by it.

The World Around Us Speaks

God placed His voice in the world around us in nature. God supernaturally reveals Himself to all mankind continually through the environment around us. He does not reveal Himself specifically like in the Bible; however, He does speak.

1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the sky displays his handiwork. (Psalm 19:1)

Notice how the world around you is talking to you. The heavens and everything that is in them declares the glory of God. The human soul or heart immediately understands this message. Before salvation, although this message is heard, the human heart rejects what it inherently knows is true. The human heart creates its own idols, serves self, and acts in rebellion to God. However, through the Gospel, once one is saved, the human heart receives the message of God with joy. The heat, cold, sun, moon, stars, and otherwise creation around us encourages the one who is in Christ, reminds us of the character of God, and confirms God’s presence and character.

What Does the World Around Us Teach?

Theologically, when we speak of the voice of God in nature, we refer to this as General Revelation.

General refers to the recipient. Every person in the world receives this revelation. As such, this message generally goes out to every individual who lives in the world. The psalmist continues, “Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world” (Psalm 19:2-4b, emphasis mine) Everyone in the world receives this revelation.

Revelation refers to the message. This message from nature reveals God. Although many go to great lengths to deny God, including seeking to explain creation through evolution, every heart hears and, prior to salvation, rejects this message. The Apostle Paul refers to this specific voice of revelation. He wrote, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth by their unrighteousness, because what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world his invisible attributes—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, because they are understood through what has been made. So people are without excuse” (Romans 1:19-20, NET). God’s eternal power and divine nature form the message of this revelation.

Essentially, General Revelation declares, “There is a God and He is powerful.”

How This Helps You Today

If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, take a moment to look around you today. As you do, receive the instruction of General Revelation. Creation declares the glory of our great God. As such, it points us to God’s character and power.

The following list helps us as we get started seeking to appreciate what we can observe around us.

  • God is faithful. He holds the world together every day. The sun stays on course. The moon is a faithful second light. Every day as we experience the heat, see the sun, notice the stars, watch the seasons, and take in nature, we are reminded that God faithfully executes His plan in the natural world around us.
  • God is powerful. Consider how much power it takes to run the world. The powerful heat of the sun and the infinitival number of other stars speaks to the power God has. The immensity of waves crashing on the ocean shoreline or claps of thunder in the sky remind us of the power contained in God’s universe. Power He controls and manages. The size of the universe reminds us of God’s incredible abilities.
  • God is creative. We see around us the beauty and uniqueness of the creation. God engages every sense of man in the beauty of the natural world around us.
  • God is majestic. Yes, mountains are majestic. The immensity of the universe leaves us in awe. The world around us declares the majesty of God.
  • God is specific. Now think of all the processes in nature. One thing depends upon another, and another, and another. The food chain. The life cycle of plants. The role of bugs in the world. How everything coexists together. Trees take in carbon dioxide as release oxygen; whereas, people exhale carbon dioxide and need oxygen. Plus, observations of nature like in the process of transformation from a caterpillar to a butterfly.

This list just gets you started.

All of This Awaits You

As you engage your world around you in the normal process of life and living, do yourself a favor, take one moment to look around, and notice the goodness, majesty, power, and personal presence of the Lord. Jesus reminded us that God knows the animals and cares for them (which can be seen in nature), then how much more does He care for us?

May God bless you in greater worship today as you engage the world around us.

 

Image Credit  Mayur Gala

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