In His Time

"He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end." Ecclesiastes 3:11

Good morning, friends!

For those of you in the U.S. still struggling under the snows of Snowmaggedon 2014/15, you have my apologies as I post this.  For the record, we had one snow this year that melted by lunchtime.

I'm guessing I know where all our snow went this year.

Early spring is upon us.  My first daffodil bloomed this weekend.  My children were outside for the first time without coats yesterday.  (Yes, they will probably be sick by this weekend.) The birds are starting to be louder in the morning, and the sun setting later.

Spring is definitely right around the corner, and I must admit, it feels, smells, and looks incredible.

People always laugh at me when they ask me my favorite season.  It's spring...or maybe fall.  Winter's pretty, though and summer's nice, too.  I guess I really don't have one, but if my back was to the wall, I would have so say fall.

Or, maybe spring.

I am always amazed by the beauty of the seasons.  What amazes me the most about them, is that God, even after the world became cursed by sin, left so much beauty in the world for us to enjoy.

Yes, there is sickness, and sadness, and disease, and death.  There are natural disasters and tragedies that occur in the physical world.

But there is also great beauty.

The verse in Ecclesiastes at the top of this post reminds me that GOD is the author of beauty.  This is still His Creation, even though it has been marred by sin.  He could have removed the flowers from the earth. Instead, He left the flowers, but gave them thorns.  He could have made the passing of the seasons (also a result of His judgment on the earth from man's sin during the flood) devoid of the beauty and majesty of Indian falls, red maple trees, and sunshine sparkling on fresh snow.

The beauty that remains is a testimony of what was present at the moment of Creation, and a reminder of an eternal God who will one day erase the results of sin in this world and show us just how everything was originally meant to be.

The word "world" in this passage is an interesting one. (No, I do not speak Hebrew, so I have to trust what many scholarly minds have ferreted out for me.)  When the writer reminds us that God "hath set the world in their heart," it is a word that means a sense of eternity, from ancient times to a distant future.

Simply put, God's Creation, and the beauty in it, should remind us 1. that we are not in control of everything as much as we would like to think we are, and 2. God is.

God is the one who made, who gave beauty, and who existed long before everything was here, and will exist long after the world is no longer here.

The next time I am moved at the sight of God's beauty in creation, may He help me to give credit where credit is due.  May I take the time to revel in the blessings of God's wonderful creation and the praise Him for His wonderful works.

Taking time to "smell the roses" in life, means I should praise the loving God who made them.