Thought of God |
Mons, Belgium
Several months ago I was returning from a retreat with some military guys in Germany. We were trying to find the gas station and ended up on back roads seriously taking the long way home. We finally stopped and got out of the cars, unfolded the maps and tried to assess our situation.
So caught up in our seemingly desperate situation, someone suddenly looked up to notice the place we were. It was beautiful. We were next to this mature orchard of apple trees perfectly lined up and well kept. The sun was low casting long shadows across the amber/green grass. The air was warm with a cool subtle breeze breathing soft upon our skin. It was wonderful – that perfect time of day that can stay as long as it wants.
We decided we were not in any real hurry and we all climbed the bank and sat there in the cool evening in the orchard and talked and laughed and told stories. Before long, our conversation had turned to spiritual things and speaking of what God has been teaching us in our lives through His Word. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and a memory non of us will soon forget.
As we decided to have a time of prayer together and worship in this natural cathedral of God’s creation, I laid down on the grass. My forehead rested upon the back of my folded hands as one by one we lifted our hearts to our creator. Somewhere in there, I opened my eyes and focused close upon the grass and dirt in front of my face. As I breathed I could smell the grass and the dirt. I began to think of how this grass and dirt was exactly what God thought it to be when He decided to create grass and dirt. The way it looked, its color, its fragrance – it is nothing short than the very thought God had upon it creation and by its very existence it glorifies God in its abiding state.
I turned to reflect upon my life and my own desires and ambitions. I am different than the dirt and grass. Yes – I too am created by God’s hand, but made in His image and in His likeness. Made to glorify him as well – but made for relationship and communion with the Holy and Eternal God. I am made to walk with God and to talk with God and to glorify Him with every part of my being in continual worship and praise – every breath a respiring adoration of God’s unfathomable goodness and perfection. Yet, because of sin’s presence, I fall short in my process of human discernment and self-centered ambition. God made mankind to process and discern, to have ambition and vision, but not outside of our first purpose to glorify Him. My humanistic discernment often is very selfish and prideful.
Then again I looked at the dirt and grass. There was no dirt discernment; no grass discernment. It was not made for relationship with God – yet it abided as God designed it to abide – for His glory. Oh that my heart would learn to abide in His Word and in His Spirit and His design for me as His child and learn how to be, how to simply be the thought of God. Go ahead and take the long way home and talk with our Lord, lay down your burdens and chase the sun to the horizon with visions that if you could run fast enough, the sun would never set. Take a dive into the river of life and swim in our God’s bountiful provisions, drink from His hand and remember how to simply be the thought of God!
“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil or
spin… if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” ~Matthew 6:28b-30
Several months ago I was returning from a retreat with some military guys in Germany. We were trying to find the gas station and ended up on back roads seriously taking the long way home. We finally stopped and got out of the cars, unfolded the maps and tried to assess our situation.
So caught up in our seemingly desperate situation, someone suddenly looked up to notice the place we were. It was beautiful. We were next to this mature orchard of apple trees perfectly lined up and well kept. The sun was low casting long shadows across the amber/green grass. The air was warm with a cool subtle breeze breathing soft upon our skin. It was wonderful – that perfect time of day that can stay as long as it wants.
We decided we were not in any real hurry and we all climbed the bank and sat there in the cool evening in the orchard and talked and laughed and told stories. Before long, our conversation had turned to spiritual things and speaking of what God has been teaching us in our lives through His Word. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and a memory non of us will soon forget.
As we decided to have a time of prayer together and worship in this natural cathedral of God’s creation, I laid down on the grass. My forehead rested upon the back of my folded hands as one by one we lifted our hearts to our creator. Somewhere in there, I opened my eyes and focused close upon the grass and dirt in front of my face. As I breathed I could smell the grass and the dirt. I began to think of how this grass and dirt was exactly what God thought it to be when He decided to create grass and dirt. The way it looked, its color, its fragrance – it is nothing short than the very thought God had upon it creation and by its very existence it glorifies God in its abiding state.
I turned to reflect upon my life and my own desires and ambitions. I am different than the dirt and grass. Yes – I too am created by God’s hand, but made in His image and in His likeness. Made to glorify him as well – but made for relationship and communion with the Holy and Eternal God. I am made to walk with God and to talk with God and to glorify Him with every part of my being in continual worship and praise – every breath a respiring adoration of God’s unfathomable goodness and perfection. Yet, because of sin’s presence, I fall short in my process of human discernment and self-centered ambition. God made mankind to process and discern, to have ambition and vision, but not outside of our first purpose to glorify Him. My humanistic discernment often is very selfish and prideful.
Then again I looked at the dirt and grass. There was no dirt discernment; no grass discernment. It was not made for relationship with God – yet it abided as God designed it to abide – for His glory. Oh that my heart would learn to abide in His Word and in His Spirit and His design for me as His child and learn how to be, how to simply be the thought of God. Go ahead and take the long way home and talk with our Lord, lay down your burdens and chase the sun to the horizon with visions that if you could run fast enough, the sun would never set. Take a dive into the river of life and swim in our God’s bountiful provisions, drink from His hand and remember how to simply be the thought of God!
“Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil or
spin… if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” ~Matthew 6:28b-30
