God's Beauty - Pt 1

Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. (Psalm 96:1-6 ESV).

When we moved into our home in Texas we faced the daunting task of landscaping. I say “daunting” simply because you must pay attention to the requirements of the shrubs and trees that you plant according to the amount of tolerance each has to the drought and heat indexes we face in our area. The last two weeks has been quite a test of some of the plants we chose. We have had almost no rain and temperatures over 1000 with little relief in sight. I must say that I am very pleased with our Texas Sage. It has doubled in size since planting last year and produces the most beautiful purple flowers throughout the heat. It reminds me again of the incredible diversity within the bounds of God’s beauty. Our reading today reminds us that we are to develop a desire for God’s beauty. This is a part of how we experience real joy in our lives. In the next few days we’re going to explore some of the ways this truth is developed in our daily lives. The basic truth for us to remember is that we must have God’s beauty to have joy. Each of us experience varying degrees of busyness, temptations, boredom, and spiritual dryness throughout our lives. God’s beauty provides an antidote for those things replacing them with joy. There is no doubt that God’s beauty soothes my busy and anxious heart. When I look into the distance and see what seems to be an endless horizon, I force myself to refocus closer to where I am. It is then that the beauty of God’s tender mercy calms me down, and lets me breathe again. When I become more microscopic, instead of panoramic, then my frantic scurrying about seems to slow to a tolerant point of reference. Haven’t you noticed how the “big things” in your life seem to eclipse those small moments of beauty and peace that God surrounds you with each day? If I’m not careful I find myself simply moving from one crisis to another. That simply is not God’s desire for us. The immediate crisis seems to grow dim when I am intentional in looking toward the beauty of God. If God can create a heat and drought tolerant plant that not only survives but blooms, I think he can give me that same strength and character. As tough as my circumstance might appear, it’s not much of a challenge for Him! Remember, “…splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.”