A couple of days ago I looked out our kitchen window and saw something that didn’t surprise me.
A little honey bee was busy doing his work for his hive. His little body was moving, his little wings were fluttering, and he was not distracted by the big world around him. He was just a-buzz’n up a storm!
Well, this past week has been quite a week with many distractions. We’ve watched the DOW lose 1/3 of its value, we watched the press tangle with the President at the daily press conferences, and we’ve all tried to remain productive at home in the face of a world-wide pandemic. However, in the midst of all the clamor, the little bee has been busy getting ready for spring.
Previously, I wrote about one approach the Christian could take in walking through this challenge here: COVID-19 & The Christian. Today, we’re going to look at the same issue, albeit from a different angle…that of God’s creation.
Psalm 104 opens with a proclamation to God’s greatness. It’s a song of praise as to the scope of God’s majesty and reach. The Psalmist wants the reader to feel something of God’s grandeur, and he chooses creation as his canvas.
“Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty, covering Yourself with light as with a cloak, stretching out heaven like a tent curtain. He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters; He makes the clouds His chariot; He walks upon the wings of the wind; He makes the winds His messengers, flaming fire His ministers.”
Psalm 104:1-4
Right from the start, the Psalmist wants his readers to understand that God is above and powerful over the common things of the earth. Light is a covering. Heaven is a tent. The clouds and rain are laid by Him and carry Him. The wind is His walking path and messenger. Fire is His servant carrying out His tasks. The context is set. Right from the beginning, God is over and in control of all that is made.
Nevertheless, the Psalmist wants us to know more than God’s power over creation. Yes, he wants us to know that He is the maker of creation.
“He established the earth upon its foundations, so that it will not totter forever and ever. You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters were standing above the mountains. At Your rebuke they fled, at the sound of Your thunder they hurried away. The mountains rose; the valleys sank down to the place which You established for them. You set a boundary that they may not pass over, so that they will not return to cover the earth.”
Psalm 104:5-9
God is not only in control of creation–using it for His purposes–He is its Creator. This fact establishes God’s sovereignty and creativity. Consider all the colors of the myriad flowers. Consider all the colors of the birds of the air. Consider all the colors of the ocean vegetation. And that’s just talking about colors for a little bit. We could go on and on about texture, and light, and taste, etc. etc. God is very creative, to say the least.
But, God is not just over creation. And…God just didn’t create creation. No, no, He’s very involved in creation. He’s intimately involved in caring for and nurturing His creation.
“He sends forth springs in the valleys; they flow between the mountains; they give drink to every beast of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst. Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; they lift up their voices among the branches. He waters the mountains from His upper chambers; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of His works. He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the labor of man, so that he may bring forth food from the earth, and wine which makes man’s heart glad, so that he may make his face glisten with oil, and food which sustains man’s heart. The trees of the Lord drink their fill, the cedars of Lebanon which He planted, where the birds build their nests, and the stork, whose home is the fir trees. The high mountains are for the wild goats; the cliffs are a refuge for the shephanim. He made the moon for the seasons; the sun knows the place of its setting. You appoint darkness and it becomes night, in which all the beasts of the forest prowl about. The young lions roar after their prey and seek their food from God. When the sun rises they withdraw and lie down in their dens. Man goes forth to his work and to his labor until evening.”
Psalm 104:10-23
God is a Shepherd. He is a Shepherd over His creation. He is a Shepherd over His people. He cares for and nurtures everything He has made–including us!
How Does This Apply To Us Today?
- God’s creation was made for His glory.
- Everything that God made…down to the microscopic level and up to the faraway galaxies has order. God is a God of order and not confusion.
- As such, He is will be glorified in order and not confusion.
- The honey bee goes about his work, and so should the Christian–no matter the chaos–we press on!
- Sin brought confusion.
- When Adam and Eve sinned, they brought confusion into the world. It’s like a cut that you get on your arm. The skin is not meant to be separated, but when it is, the body reacts to bring it back together through healing.
- Sin brought the cut, but God brought and still brings the healing order from the chaos of sin through His Word.
- The creation cries out–longing for its redemption (healing)!
- God is not surprised by sin and uses all things for His glory.
- Satan didn’t win in deceiving the first man and woman. Oh, no. God allowed it to happen–even the ripple effects that we all still feel today with disease and suffering and loss.
- God’s answer to sin is Jesus Christ and His resurrection.
- COVID-19 is a ripple, but God will bring order in the midst of its wake.
- God cares for His creation.
- God did not leave all the He made to fend for itself. No, he put humankind in charge of keeping it, subduing it, and producing from it.
- At the same time, God remains intimately involved in caring for everything He made. He is the Shepherd of the forest, the Steward of the Earth, and His words from the very beginning ring true still today… “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good…” Genesis 1:31a
- In the face of sickness, suffering, and death, God gives hope. Sickness, suffering, and death do not have the final word. No, no…God’s Word has the final word, and He said, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:55-57
Therefore, the Christian can look at creation and be reminded by its focus, its longing, and its songs of praise. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 15:58
The Christian can cry out with the rocks–glory to God in the highest and on earth–PEACE! We can seek our God and find Him right where we are!
“And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Matthew 6:28-34