source: kwong yee cheng
This week I’m teaching at a Performing Arts Camp. It’s a really cool day-camp where kids take classes in performing arts and then put on a full length musical drama on the last day. It’s intense.
This is Lydia’s first year to be in Performing Arts Camp (as opposed to the preschool VBS) and I love seeing her discover new things and learn to work and be on her own. It’s taken me all week to get the songs onto my iPhone so we can listen to it on the way each morning and home each night. (In case you were wondering, Media.io is an easy way to change a WMA file to a MP3.)
This morning we were listening to a song called Wild Worship. The lyrics say, “Listen to the wild worship. Listen to the wild sing. Listen to the wild praise you, praise you Lord as King. Listen to the wild worship. Listen to the wild cry. Listen to the wild praise you as their voices fill the sky. They lift you up on high.”
Lydia could not understand how animals praise God. How is a lion’s roar worship? Is a cow’s moo worship?
We recently had almost this same conversation about the verse about the heavens declaring the glory of God. Lydia did not understand how stars could tell of God’s greatness. How can a star or a tree worship God?
This is an interesting thought. Do trees worship? Do stars praise? Do animals actually use their mouths to praise the Lord?
I’m not sure. What I am sure of is this:
Creation does tell of God, our Creator.
When I see trees, I see God’s faithfulness. A God who creates a tree to flower in spring, produce fruit in summer, prepare in autumn and sleep in winter shows me that God is in the midst of every season of my life. A God who creates trees to give shelter, shade, homes and food and more to humans and animals alike is a God who provides. A God who creates everything from weeping willows to redwoods to dogwoods is a God of beauty and one who delights in giving good gifts.
I’m not trying to be a hyper-creationist by saying, “How could anyone believe in evolution?!!” I’m just saying, WOW! Creation does shout of God’s amazing qualitites. Trees, animals, weather, space, plants and humans are so amazing that I can’t help but see them all showing off…or rather, God showing off through them.
source: kcolwell
It’s as if God is saying, “Look! Look what I made for you! This tree! THIS TREE can give you food. But if you wait a few months, it will also give you shade in summer. And wait! You cannot even believe this, it is going to turn red and brown and gold and wow you with it’s colors. And that’s not all! Did you know this same tree houses hundreds of insects? Families of birds? squirrels? But I’m not done yet. Just wait, WAIT till Spring and you see the flowers I made for you. Their fragrance is like nothing you’ve ever smelled before! Not only that, you could cut this tree down and burn it to keep you warm. Or cut it up to make yourself a shelter to protect you. And this is just ONE tree! One small piece of my vast creation!”
So, it’s not really creation that’s singing or shouting. It’s God speaking through his creation. It’s God drawing you to Himself through his creativity. And his creativity is so loud that it’s as if all of creation is shouting out the amazing attributes of God!
Maybe it’s just me. But today as I tried (tried!) to explain the wild worship to Lydia, I felt it. I felt the world singing and world shouting the greatness of God.
Where do you see God’s greatness? the wild worship?
I love your posts, Amanda! You have such a way with words. I can hear/see God pointing out his creation to me, all the time. The other day, I was just watching the trees & seeing the color in their leaves. I love to watch animals. God amazes me with his creation all the time!
God’s timing is always so amazing to me. I just got back from a 7 day vacation in Utah where I was so inspired by all that He has created and the intricacies of His creation. I created a video with some of the photos we took and the “lessons” I took away from nature about our own lives. I meant it to be for my WMU study and some family members but I want to share it with you too. Although now that warning about me using a copyrighted audio track might be something I need to consider LOL Here is the link http://youtu.be/u9g3ScZd_A8
We just got back from a nature walk on our new (to us) farm. The kids and I shared these same sentiments! Seeing the mountains & the lake meet at the horizon from my back porch is just unreal to me. His nature and creation reminds me of how small I am and how big He is!
You moved to a farm?!!
a
I enjoyed reading those lyrics and marveling how we and all of creation are here to give glory to the one and only God. My kids and I went on a bird watching outing last week, and I’ve been extra attuned to listening to all of the different birds’ songs. I was thinking how I can only hear the birds outside my window or in our nearby area, but God not only hears them, but also the ones in Argentina and South Africa and Taiwan and everywhere who are singing right then! He’s amazing and I wonder what it sounds like?! Have you seen video of Louie Giglio with the sound of the stars and whales? I just saw it this morning for the first time and can’t stop thinking about it. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7zWKm-LZWm4 here’s the link to a shortened version. Thanks for all you write!
That was awesome. I saw Louie speak on the Indescribable tour. It was a similar idea about God’s creation and creativity.
Thank you for sharing that!
a
You so often write my heart! What joy it is to think how God created this world to provide us food, shelter, beauty, and just plain enjoyment. Looking at the gray skies and the fog covering the mountains today I could not help but be in awe of Him!