We are often told that if you want to know more about someone, you don’t have to look too far, you just have to dig deep into their art and work. And indeed, in the blink of an eye, we peel back the layers of a person’s personality and his true nature is laid bare before us. This word also applies to God. His body of work is all around us, giving us a glimpse of his true nature and personality.
1. A galaxy that fully displays the wisdom of God.
When we look up at the heavens, we can’t help but be amazed and stunned at how huge, complex, majestic, and wonderful our universe is. It was so shocking that even Albert Einstein, who doubted the very existence of God, could not have imagined that this vast universe could have been created with such acute precision, that countless Milky Ways and galaxies could have arisen by chance. As you know, the slightest miscalculation can throw the entire solar system into complete chaos and endanger the lives of everyone on Earth. No wonder Einstein, with all his fears and doubts about God, was once quoted as saying that there must be an intelligent being behind creation.
Given God’s wisdom, His precise and meticulous way of accomplishing His tasks, should we be justified in doubting or distrusting His ability to manage our lives, or trusting Him to be in complete control of our future?
The way God wonderfully brought everything into existence, down to the tiniest details, just shows us that we have no reason to doubt or be afraid. We can surrender everything to God’s care and rest in the knowledge that He is extremely powerful, wise, dependable, and trustworthy.
2. The cyclical nature of the seasons shows that God wants us to rely on Him.
The change of seasons is a humbling reminder that our lives are also governed by cyclical seasons. But just as a proud tree sprouts green leaves and glowing fruit in the spring, fall can destroy everything it produces, losing everything in the process. If you’ve ever walked past a bare tree that’s been stripped of its last leaves, you’ll know what I mean.
God wants us to understand that if we continue to rely on Him and seek His guidance in all we do, difficult seasons will not last. That way we can continue to stand even during the driest times of our lives. Just like a bare tree in a meadow that struggles to survive the fall and winter seasons and looks worn and dead, it doesn’t flinch because it knows it will make a big comeback in the spring.
3. Ants show that God hates laziness.
Before the rain, I often noticed swarms of ants going out, carrying whatever they could grab, carrying mouthfuls of food twice their size, and dumping their spoils into holes so small that no one could fit them. They are preparing for the upcoming rainy day. That’s why I’m not at all surprised that God Himself used Ali’s hard work, resourcefulness, and perseverance as an example for people to emulate.
God Himself is diligent. Didn’t Jesus work for six full days and only rest on the seventh day? I’m not saying you have to work six days a week. It simply shows us that we were created to do good work, that we were not put into this world to rot in idleness, but to use our God-given talents to help advance God’s kingdom here on earth in small and large ways.
4. God shows His relentless spirit in nature.
God is truly relentless.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned about a side of God that I hadn’t realized before, it’s His unforgiving nature.
We see God’s unforgiving nature when we watch a butterfly tear itself from its cocoon after months of cruel, silent battle. Just as ants carry twice their weight in food for weeks and even months, seeds tear through soil and mud and drag themselves to death.
When we read the Bible, we see that once God puts His heart into something, He is unrelenting. God will accomplish whatever He sets His mind to in His own time. Let’s take the Jews as an example. Even though thousands of years have passed, the desires of God’s heart have been fulfilled.
Didn’t Jesus declare long ago that he would bring the Jews back to their homeland? Indeed, even though the Jews had been in exile in various countries for thousands of years, they eventually returned to Israel. This happened even though the Jews refused to return to their land. Can you blame them? Prior to their return to Eretz Yisrael, Israel was largely a desert and plagued by mosquitoes that cause malaria. Swamps and swamps were poorly drained before their arrival, making many areas breeding grounds for Anopheles mosquitoes, a type of mosquito that contributes to the spread of malaria in the region.
According to Mark Twain, this country was a desert country where even cacti had a hard time growing, which he wrote about in his diary when he visited the area in 1867.
But God is merciless. Whatever God chooses to do, it comes to life.
Once a barren desert for more than two millennia, just a few years after the Jews plowed their fields and settled in their homeland, it melted back into a land known as a land of milk and honey, grazing land for cattle, and a haven filled with all kinds of fruits, vegetables, and flowers.
“But you, O mountains of Israel, will bring forth branches and fruit for my people Israel, for they will soon return.” Ezekiel 36:8 NIV
And God will pursue you relentlessly. Every year, God molds you into the person He wants you to be. God shapes your character through your life experiences, the people He sends you, and the souls He intends for you to meet. That is why we are confident that “he who began a good work in us will continue it to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6 NIV
5. God’s kindness is manifested in nature.
We can feel God’s gentle nature in the soft rain falling on a meadow, in a mother swan guiding her young, in a calm river flowing over a rock, in a mother bird feeding her babies a hundred times a day, in a dandelion seed dancing in the wind, in the kindness of a stranger.
Atheists and even some Christians often portray God in the Old Testament as angry and vengeful, inflicting severe and excruciating punishment on those who disobey his commands. In fact, some Christians even believe that the God of the Old Testament looks different than the God of the New Testament. It’s as if God has contrasting personalities. In the Old Testament he is angry like a lion and in the New Testament he is calm like a dove.
If we take a closer look at the reasons behind God’s wrath in the Old Testament, we will find significant situations in which God was forced to exact harsh judgments on his subjects. Before God punishes an individual, a group of people, or a nation, He sends repeated warnings, not days or months, but years and even decades, before executing His judgment. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was caused by the sexual immorality and other immoral acts that were rampant in those cities. The desire between men is inflamed, and so on.
God is gracious and merciful, and over the years He has sent prophets to warn people of the impending catastrophe that will occur if they do not repent of their sins. But residents remained defiant and stubborn, again and again, over the decades. And when judgment was about to take place and Moses begged God to spare the city from God’s wrath, did not God agree to Moses’ proposals many times? But in the end, there were less than 10 righteous people in this country. And Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed, but only after decades of warning.
God is not angry. He is a God of justice. That is God’s nature, and so He does what only a just God should do: make accurate judgments when dire circumstances demand it.
Being intimate with God is more than just finding time to spend time with Him in prayer. It is about cultivating a deeper relationship with God. It is also about knowing who God is. And we can do so by observing God’s wonderful work around us. Nature has a way of revealing God’s will. The more you know God, the more the love for God will be engraved in your heart, and the more you will become a kinder and gentler soul.
“He that does not love does not know God, for God is love.” 1 John 4:8 NKJV
“By this we know that we know God if we keep his commandments. Anyone who says, “I know God,” and does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps God’s words, truly the love of God has been perfected in him. By this we know that we are in God. 6 Anyone who says he abides in God should also walk as God walked.” 1 John. 2:3-6 NKJV
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