Be Still

This verse is often thought of during times of stress ... times when our world seems to be falling apart.  It is indeed a helpful verse to remember during such times.  However, I think its message means so much more than that.  

I believe God wants us to be still ... to take a look around us & see Him in His creation.  I sit in my recliner in the early hours of the morning & I hear the birds singing, each one singing a different song, but they are all blending together & it is such a blessing to hear them & to think of how God made each one & gave them each their own special song.  They are singing songs of praise to Him, don't ya know   : )     

John & I like to sit in our rockers on the front porch at this time of year & we often hear neighbors' cows mooing, or their chickens clucking, or their roosters crowing, or their horses whinnying.  We see hawks soaring overhead.  We watch the ground hog come out of her den underneath our farm trees & make her way down to a neighbor's pond.  Sometimes deer carefully wander through the yard & we dare not make any sudden moves to scare them away.  A fox visits every now & then & we marvel at his beauty.  These are all God's creatures.  He created each & every one. 

Although I love winter, I am sometimes awed by what I see in other seasons.  Now it is spring, & every day it seems that all the trees & flowers & bushes grow a little greener, a little fuller, a little taller.  We watch the birds collecting various materials to make their nests, & if we are very, very careful, we can find one & take a peek at mama bird sitting on her eggs.  The air smells sweet, the sky is a beautiful blue.

The summer ... well, for me it's miserable for the most part.  I hate the heat.  However, the summer brings fresh vegetables, & flowers in the garden.  The butterflies rest on every bloom, each butterfly displaying gorgeous, brilliant colors.  Bees buzz from flower to flower, collecting nectar & going off to their nests to make their delicious honey.  Sometimes we will have a storm.  The wind will blow, the sky will darken, & there will be loud claps of thunder, bright streaks of lightning, & the rain will seem to come down in buckets.  It's a marvelous thing to think that the intensity of a storm is nothing compared to the intensity of our Lord's power. 

In the fall, many of the birds fly south for the winter.  We love to hear the geese honking & see them flying in formation.  In fact, if I am unencumbered at the moment & I hear the geese honking, I run to the window or out onto the porch to watch them fly by. The leaves on the trees turn brilliant colors & eventually fall on the ground.  The fall brings a wonderful scent of it's own.  I can't describe it, but it's a wonderful gift for our senses.

If we are still ... & if we make ourselves aware ... we can see God in all these things, & more.  We can be awed by His love for us. We can feel His presence.  We can know Him.

I wish you all a very blessed Sunday!