Thunderstorms and Nature Songs
Dear Friends,
In the beautiful hymn This Is My Father's World there is a phrase, "and to my ears all nature sings." Every song is made up of many notes. Nature has her own kind of songs. Some of the notes are soft, gentle wind whispers through the tree branches. Other notes are booming thunder.
Today I was in my garden looking to see what new plants I can find. My garden is like a song. A sweet and sometimes tangled mixture of notes. As you can see in this picture some Lily of the Valley has popped up in the midst of Strawberry plants. Next to these is a Peony bush and Autumn Joy Sedum.
In Jeremiah 51:16 we can see a beautiful song of nature. "When He speaks in the thunder, the heavens roar with rain. He causes the clouds to rise over the earth. He sends the lightning with the rain and releases the wind from his storehouses."
Notes of rain, wind, thunder, gentle breezes and rainbows make up the beautiful nature songs that God gives us. Let's open our ears and listen to His songs.
Psalms 95:4-5
"He holds in His hands the depths of the earth and the mightiest mountains. The sea belongs to Him, for He made it. His hands made the dry land too."
Stone Pavement: God's Pathway
Dear Friends,
A tiny scrap of paper with a heartfelt prayer is placed in a crack of the Wall. This Wall in Jerusalem is a visual reminder of all that God did for His people in ancient days. Stone upon stone rising up as a beacon for His people to draw close to Him. Many people come to lift their voices, sing praises and cry tears of brokenness. Kneeling on the stone pavement in prayer becomes a pathway to God's power.
I was reading in the book of Joshua the story of the Israelites crossing the Jordan River that ended the forty years of wandering in the wilderness. The amazing miracle didn't end that day. Joshua piled up twelve stones that had been gathered from the middle of the Jordan river to stand as a memorial, a reminder of the greatness of God. At the end of chapter four it says, "He did this so all nations of the earth might know that the Lord's hand is powerful, and so you might fear the Lord your God forever."
The Israelites celebrated Passover before the seven day march around the city of Jericho. Joshua had sent spies into Jericho to check out the situation. Rahab helped the spies and told them how the whole city of Jericho was terrified of the Israelites. She hung a red cord from her window that was in the city wall, the window from which she had helped the spies escape by. The red cord was a visual sign that those inside this house would be spared from the destruction of Jericho. This was much like when the Israelites put the blood of lambs on their doorposts so that God would pass over them during the last plague.
In John 19:14, at another Passover time, Pilate sat on the Stone Pavement which was his judgement seat, he said, "Look, here is your King!" Then Pilate turned Jesus over to the people. He was taken on a pathway to the top of a hill called the Place of the Skull to be crucified. Pilate posted a sign on the cross saying, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews." Verse 20 says, "... the sign was written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek, so that many people could read it." The place of the crucifixion remains today as a visual reminder of the sacrifice Jesus made for us.
Things like the pile of twelve stones, the red cord, the hill that looks like a skull, the sign that Pilate put on the cross, and the Wall in Jerusalem have been used by God as reminders of His greatness so that we won't stop praying.
Psalms 19:14, 19
"You are the God of great wonders! You demonstrate Your awesome power among the nations.... your road led through the sea, Your pathway through the mighty waters-- a pathway no one knew as there!"
