Experiencing God Through Nature

The stress and tension that I had been carrying all day evaporated as I took a deep breath breathing in the cold, fresh air. I felt as if a heavy weight that I had been carrying for days had finally been lifted from my shoulders and was replaced with a deep sense of peace. The waves rushed up the beach and then backwards crashing into the ocean over and over again in a mesmerizing dance. When standing on the beach on a day when the regular wind and rain of the Oregon Coast goes away and the sun makes its way through the clouds I often feel as if I could watch those waves dance for hours. There’s something so captivating about them; like if I was to listen closely enough to them I could hear them singing. I get a similar feel when walking through the forest far from civilization or when I stare at the night sky. There’s something about nature that always seems to take my breath away everytime I stop to admire it. Even though I’ve seen it a thousand times, I feel as if I was seeing a magnificent piece of artwork for the first time. Perhaps this is because there is something, or rather someone hidden in nature that is gently speaking to our hearts.

Most people who have spent a considerable amount of time in the church have heard other Christians talk about hearing God’s voice. We talk about experiencing God’s presence in our lives so often as Christians that we hardly ever stop to explain exactly what we mean when we say that we “heard '' God speak to us. I have talked to a lot of people who have given up on the idea of them ever being able to hear God’s voice because they don’t know how to recognize his voice when they hear it. Not too long ago a friend of mine told me that she had never heard God’s voice and that she had determined that God must only speak to some people. I asked her what exactly she meant by hearing God’s voice and discovered that she had been expecting to hear an audible voice from the heavens that she could hear as clearly as she was hearing my voice as we spoke over the phone. I have never heard God speak to me audibly. In fact, I know very few people who have. I am not trying to say that God never speaks to people in this way because I could give many examples inside and outside scripture of Him speaking to people in an audible voice. However, this is only one out of many ways that we can experience God’s voice. For my next few blog posts I am going to focus on some of the different ways that I have experienced God.

One of my all time most favorite ways to experience God’s presence is through His creation. King David wrote,

“the heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make Him known. They speak without sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world,” (Psalm 19: 1 - 4a, NLT).

God speaks through His creation. He ministers to and loves our hearts through its wonder and beauty. Whether it is as simple as squirrels making you laugh as you watch them playing with each other in the park or something breathtaking like seeing a beautiful rainbow or a herd of wild horses, we can often fill His presence when we take the time to stop and admire His creation.

We can see God speaking through His creation in the book of Genesis to a man named Abraham. God called Abraham and his wife, Sarah, to leave their home land and travel to Cannan. Both Abraham and Sarah were very old and had no children and they had given up on ever having an heir to carry on their family name. However, God had a different plan for them. One night He led Abraham outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!” (Genesis 15: 5, NLT). God spoke to Abraham through the stars. He could have just told him that he was going to give him many descendants but instead He chose to use His creation.

I could fill an entire book with stories of all the different ways that God has spoken to me through His creation but for now I will just focus on one. One night last summer when I was home alone with my mom’s cat, I was having a really hard night. I was feeling really sad and overwhelmed and didn't want to be alone. Orio, my mom’s cat, stuck by my side throughout the whole night as if he knew that I was struggling and wanted to comfort me. He curled up in my lamp as I wrote and watched TV. Then, when I finally decided to try to go to sleep, he laid beside me with his back against my back and purred. I believe that God was using my furry, little friend to comfort and speak to my heart in ways that no human could have done. God speaks to us in the most mysterious ways often when we are least expecting it.

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about The C.A.N Sister’s Ministry, leave a comment below, check out our website, or email us at cansistersministry@gmail.com.