Thanking God For Nature

“Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.”
Genesis 1:31

Have you ever wondered who the most difficult person for us to satisfy is? From simple daily activities to most intricate designs, from a very temporary material to the one that lasts for a lifetime, does it not take multiple rounds of practice, edits, reshaping, modifications, before it is fully certified as perfect in our own eyes?

During our childhood, we were sent to school with a writing pad (slate or notebook), a writing tool and not to forget a tool to erase as well, to correct the errors and bring it to perfection. Around us is the universe, the heavens and the earth with all its splendour, with innumerable varieties, colours and kinds even within its own genre, each having a system of unique operation, language, habit and intelligence!

We read in the Bible that everything that was created was indeed very good in the eyes of the most perfect God. All these are designed and created in extreme precision that it takes centuries for the intellectual humans to decode, modify, and recode in an attempt to fully understand. I cannot stop but marvel at everything around us which we often take for granted!

Not more than a fortnight ago, our land saw the first showers after nearly 200 days. Shortly after the years of mighty floods and cyclone, our land was in severe drought. Schools were slowly closing down their full-time operations, workplaces requested their employees to work from home, hotels and mansions had to be closed, and water though dirty had to be bought for money.

A resource that God had created, blessed and ensured it was only the best for us is now a costly treasure. We prayed for rain like never before and when the first drop touched the ground, there were selfies and videos posted on social media. Around the same time, the other part of the globe was all set to welcome summer, carnivals, jubilations and music.

While we are so connected and dependent on nature, it is indeed strange that we take all of it for granted. After school days, I have a very faint memory of thanking God for the gift of nature and its resources. As we began schooling, we were taught to thank God for the Sun, Moon, Stars, Grass, Flowers, Mountains, Hills and that was our prayer. As we grew up, carried by worldly pressures, asking God for wealth, health, marks, admission, jobs, became the prayer.

The man testified by God to be after His own heart was the one who had always marvelled at the wondrous works of the Maker, and developed total confidence on Him. The closeness of God’s hand that he felt in everything around him, would have made the Psalmist pen down such deep verses of gratitude and comparing our unworthiness in front of a mighty God.

In Psalm 8:3-4, David writes “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?”

David developed trust, and confidence in the Lord by taking time to appreciate the six-fold work of God that we read in Genesis 1. David since young manifested absolute faith in the power of God. Can we ever imagine a young boy of such stature facing a giant Goliath? God teaches, speaks and provides for us through the Nature that He has created in all perfection for us.

As we begin this month, may we take cautious steps to stop abusing the abundant blessings, God has provided in everything around us? Just as a family prepares for a baby’s arrival – setting up the rooms and getting all the needed stuff in place, the Lord had carefully designed all the resources needed, saw that it was good and only then created the human being. Despite enjoying such a privilege we fail to be filled with gratitude unless we face a crisis.

May God grant us a spirit to appreciate His mighty works all around us, and may the works of His hand that we see every day build our faith in Him to lead a life of absolute trust and humility just as David did! Rain or Sunshine, let us always thank the Lord.