It’s happening again! The older I get, the more sensitive I am to the workings of nature. Each year, around the first of August, I begin to perceive, ever so slightly, that the shadows of the trees are lying differently on the grass. I sense the subtle temperature changes early in the morning and late in the evening.
To be certain, it is still hot, the trees are still green, and so is the grass; but the old earth is slowly beginning to tilt, and the process of change in the seasons is beginning again. Somehow, I first recognize this on a subconscious level. Then I become aware of what it is that I have been sensing.
As this process has once again unfolded, I have been reminded of God’s promise in Genesis 8:22: “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” I have also been reminded of Romans 1:20: “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”
One other thing came to my memory. Recently, someone sent me the following piece by e-mail. It is titled GOD’S ACCURACY.
God's accuracy may be observed in the hatching of eggs... For example:
-the eggs of the potato bug hatch in 7 days;
-those of the canary in 14 days;
-those of the barnyard hen in 21 days;
-The eggs of ducks and geese hatch in 28 days;
-those of the mallard in 35 days;
-The eggs of the parrot and the ostrich hatch in 42 days.
(Notice, they are all divisible by seven, the number of days in a week!)
God's wisdom is seen in the making of an elephant...
The four legs of this great beast all bend forward in the same direction. No other quadruped is so made. God planned that this animal would have a huge body, too large to live on two legs. For this reason He gave it four fulcrums so that it can rise from the ground easily. The horse rises from the ground on its two front legs first. A cow rises from the ground with its two hind legs first. How wise the Lord is in all His works of creation!
God's wisdom is revealed in His arrangement of sections and segments, as well as in the number of grains...
-Each watermelon has an even number of stripes on the rind. -Each orange has an even number of segments.
-Each ear of corn has an even number of rows.
-Each stalk of wheat has an even number of grains.
-Every bunch of bananas has on its lowest row an even number of bananas, and each row decreases by one, so that one row has an even number and the next row an odd number... All grains are found in even numbers on the stalks, and the Lord specified thirty fold, sixty fold, and a hundred fold - all even numbers.
God has caused the flowers to blossom at certain specified times during the day, so that Linnaeus, the great botanist, once said that if he had a conservatory containing the right kind of soil, moisture and temperature, he could tell the time of day or night by the flowers that were open and those that were closed!
The lives of each of you may be ordered by the Lord in a beautiful way for His glory, if you will only entrust Him with your life. If you try to regulate your own life, it will only be a mess and a failure. Only the One Who made the brain and the heart can successfully guide them to a profitable end.
If King David would have had access to the internet in his day and age, he would no doubt have received and appreciated this piece. In Psalm 19, David reflects on the knowledge of God as revealed in nature, and also on the significance of this for him personally:
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. 3 There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. 4 Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, 5 which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. 6 It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.
7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. 8 The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. 9 he fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous. 10 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. 11 By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
12 Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. 13 Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression. 14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Notice that his knowledge of God through nature drives him to a greater appreciation for God’s Word. And this, in turn, drives him to an acknowledgement of his own inadequacy before the Lord. He concludes with the expression of a sincere desire to please his Creator, before Whom he is willfully subservient.
I find this process in David’s heart interesting, especially given my experience in searching the internet for the origin of the above piece on God’s accuracy. While I did not uncover the original source, I did find it occuring widely on the web. More intriguing, perhaps, is the fact that I found several forums on the web where this piece and its contents were ridiculed, but never one where it and its contents were actually disputed.
For my part, I agree with David. The evidence of the handiwork of God in nature drives me to an acknowledgement of my dependence upon and subservience to Him. To conclude otherwise is to err exceedingly. Thus, as David also says (in Psalm 14:1), “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” By contrast, as Solomon observes (in Proverbs 9:10), “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
To be certain, it is still hot, the trees are still green, and so is the grass; but the old earth is slowly beginning to tilt, and the process of change in the seasons is beginning again. Somehow, I first recognize this on a subconscious level. Then I become aware of what it is that I have been sensing.
As this process has once again unfolded, I have been reminded of God’s promise in Genesis 8:22: “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” I have also been reminded of Romans 1:20: “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”
One other thing came to my memory. Recently, someone sent me the following piece by e-mail. It is titled GOD’S ACCURACY.
God's accuracy may be observed in the hatching of eggs... For example:
-the eggs of the potato bug hatch in 7 days;
-those of the canary in 14 days;
-those of the barnyard hen in 21 days;
-The eggs of ducks and geese hatch in 28 days;
-those of the mallard in 35 days;
-The eggs of the parrot and the ostrich hatch in 42 days.
(Notice, they are all divisible by seven, the number of days in a week!)
God's wisdom is seen in the making of an elephant...
The four legs of this great beast all bend forward in the same direction. No other quadruped is so made. God planned that this animal would have a huge body, too large to live on two legs. For this reason He gave it four fulcrums so that it can rise from the ground easily. The horse rises from the ground on its two front legs first. A cow rises from the ground with its two hind legs first. How wise the Lord is in all His works of creation!
God's wisdom is revealed in His arrangement of sections and segments, as well as in the number of grains...
-Each watermelon has an even number of stripes on the rind. -Each orange has an even number of segments.
-Each ear of corn has an even number of rows.
-Each stalk of wheat has an even number of grains.
-Every bunch of bananas has on its lowest row an even number of bananas, and each row decreases by one, so that one row has an even number and the next row an odd number... All grains are found in even numbers on the stalks, and the Lord specified thirty fold, sixty fold, and a hundred fold - all even numbers.
God has caused the flowers to blossom at certain specified times during the day, so that Linnaeus, the great botanist, once said that if he had a conservatory containing the right kind of soil, moisture and temperature, he could tell the time of day or night by the flowers that were open and those that were closed!
The lives of each of you may be ordered by the Lord in a beautiful way for His glory, if you will only entrust Him with your life. If you try to regulate your own life, it will only be a mess and a failure. Only the One Who made the brain and the heart can successfully guide them to a profitable end.
If King David would have had access to the internet in his day and age, he would no doubt have received and appreciated this piece. In Psalm 19, David reflects on the knowledge of God as revealed in nature, and also on the significance of this for him personally:
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. 3 There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. 4 Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, 5 which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. 6 It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.
7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. 8 The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. 9 he fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous. 10 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. 11 By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
12 Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. 13 Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression. 14 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
Notice that his knowledge of God through nature drives him to a greater appreciation for God’s Word. And this, in turn, drives him to an acknowledgement of his own inadequacy before the Lord. He concludes with the expression of a sincere desire to please his Creator, before Whom he is willfully subservient.
I find this process in David’s heart interesting, especially given my experience in searching the internet for the origin of the above piece on God’s accuracy. While I did not uncover the original source, I did find it occuring widely on the web. More intriguing, perhaps, is the fact that I found several forums on the web where this piece and its contents were ridiculed, but never one where it and its contents were actually disputed.
For my part, I agree with David. The evidence of the handiwork of God in nature drives me to an acknowledgement of my dependence upon and subservience to Him. To conclude otherwise is to err exceedingly. Thus, as David also says (in Psalm 14:1), “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” By contrast, as Solomon observes (in Proverbs 9:10), “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”