All In All 5 Day Devotional Sýnishorn

I have a real knack for overlooking the obvious. For example, I was every bit of twenty-eight years old when I looked at a map of the United States and suddenly realized that the western border of my home state of Mississippi was in fact the Mississippi River. It had honestly never occurred to me before and it was only about eight years ago that I looked at the Target sign near our house and said, “Okay—I get it now! The Target logo is an actual target!”

I don’t know, y’all. I guess I just thought that the Target corporation had an affinity for dots and circles. Given that, it probably won’t be much of a shocker to learn that I was well into my thirties before I started to notice the way God reveals Himself through His creation. Suddenly the seasons started to take on much deeper meaning. (I see you, spring, and how the old stuff dies away and God replaces it with new life.) 

I became a certified sunset junkie— seriously couldn’t get enough of them. Because here’s the deal: God didn’t have to make the sunsets beautiful. Same for sunrises. He could have just set an appointed time to turn the lights on and off, so to speak, and we’d have never known the difference. But instead? He faithfully paints the sky using light and colors, clouds and shadows. The heavens are His canvas. He bookends our days with beauty, and He never creates the same painting twice.

So really, if the sky was all we had to remind us of God’s majesty, that would be enough. But He gives us so much more (and these are just a few of my personal favorites):

• Bright blue oceans as deep and as vast as His love for His children

• Baby green leaves that feel like signals of hope when they first appear in the spring

• Clear, brisk lakes with water that reflects all the life that surrounds it

• Crisp, colorful autumn leaves that remind us how beautiful it can be when what’s dead falls away

• Patches of sunshine on the gloomiest days because the Light always breaks through the darkness

If you think about it, you realize that God could have just given us some light and some water and some air and then been all, FEND FOR YOURSELVES, PEOPLE. But He’s given us a garden. He’s given us more beauty than our eyes can behold, and it would be such a shame if we stayed so mired down in our Snapchat stories that we missed it.

So today, if you’re feeling overwhelmed, if you’re feeling lonely, if you’re feeling tired or hurt or sad or angry, walk outside. Look at what God has given us! Take it in with your eyes and with your heart. Ask Him to increase your awareness and your appreciation for all of His good gifts. Soak up the beauty of this great big earth. All creation sings His praise.