The hymn writer famously wrote, “O Lord, my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds thy hands have made I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder thy power throughout the universe displayed then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee how great thou art, how great thou art.” Have we lost a sense of awe and wonder in this world? For most of us, a normal day of life doesn’t leave us in awesome wonder. We pass by trees and grass, see the sun and moon every day, but they are altogether ordinary, not awesome to us.
The Scriptures teach us that the natural world is not only God’s creation, but God’s revelation. Psa. 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” In Rom. 1:19-20, “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.”
Have you ever wondered why God created everything in this world from the smallest ant to the Appalachian Mountains? The natural world is not merely the result of random, unguided processes, but is the masterpiece of God. The Bible tells us that every created thing reveals the glory of God. It is a sort of language by which God communicates with people that he exists and that he is glorious. We ought to be moved to worship, seeing God’s goodness, grace, power and creativity in the things around us. Nothing is ordinary in God’s world. The next time you take a walk in the forest and smell the dead leaves, sink your teeth into a delectable cheeseburger, stare out the window at the sparkling snow, play with your dog, or listen to the gentle chirping of crickets in a summer night – stand in awesome wonder and let your soul sing, “How great thou art!”.
- Peter Banfe