“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world.” Psalm 19:1-4
It was the rustling sound in the brush that got my attention first. My heart jumped in my chest and I squeezed the brakes on my bike. I stared into the woods, expecting to see a small bear or bobcat (bears in our area are seldom seen, but not impossible. Bobcats on the other hand are not so rare!).
“Hmmm…nothing,” I thought, my eyes scanning the forest depths.
Sunlight streamed through the tree branches, illuminating the forest floor. Rain had fallen in the early morning hours, the resulting droplets glistening in the light. What beauty all around me! “How could I have been so buried in my thoughts that I almost missed this?” I asked myself, setting my feet back on the pedals and slowly moving along the road.
I have always enjoyed the beauty of God’s creation. The night sky on a clear night will call me out to my deck, where I’ll be craning my neck to observe every twinkling star. The telescope will be set up, focused on the craters and cracks on the surface of the moon. The flowers blossoming in my flower beds and the vegetables pushing up through the rich soil in my garden greet me each morning of the spring and summer. The birds and chipmunks outside my kitchen window sing their “good morning” when I start my day. It would be impossible for me to ignore it.
My bike ride the other morning was different. It was more than just seeing a few flowers and hearing a few birds twittering in the branches. The choreography of God’s creation struck me. I saw creation as a whole rather than the pieces and parts. The breeze pushing through the trees, rustling the leaves into song and making the branches dance to the tune. The river cutting through the forest ground, the water tumbling over the rocks and adding its own tune to the song. The light that pushed through the tree tops, spotlighting the ferns on the forest floor, the raindrops sparkling in the light, the river reflecting the canopy above were part of the dance.
Birds sang along with the melody, bull frogs croaked in time, chipmunks chattered in the distance. A heron flew above the trees and circled down to stand tall in a small pond. A mouse watched cautiously from its hiding place under some decomposing leaves. Sheep bleated in the distance. A deer munched tender grass in a meadow. I could have touched her, she was so close to the road. The sight of me sent her bounding away into the woods. Flowers bordered the road, an array of color lining my path as I rode.
God allowed me to see the whole picture that morning. It was more than colors on a canvas. It was a beautiful song being sung by His creation. It’s a song we too often miss. We spend so much time hurrying through our days, our cars speeding down the road. We fail to see the beauty, we can’t hear the song. It’s a sweet, gentle melody that we don’t hear in our rush to get from one place to another. To hear it, we need to slow down. We need to open our eyes and our ears, and also our hearts. It’s God’s choreography. We need to trust in Him, to surrender to Him and let Him show us the incredible beauty and majesty of His creation.
