Sometimes nature just plops down in front of you.  Then you have a choice. You can turn around and go back to your same ‘ol, same ‘ol, struggling life, or you can STOP…and stare at that beautifully designed aspect of nature with awe and wonder.

My Father’s Day gift for 2018 dropped down in our neighbors back yard, directly behind our house on a Sunday morning. I yelled, “Honey where is my Nikon?!” I grabbed it and ran outside. Our Labrador Retrievers would not stop barking.  My wife put our dogs inside so I could capture this moment. I turned my camera on. I walked closer yet quietly. There they were, two Mallard Ducks, a male and a female. Even though they are regarded as the most abundant ducks in the world, they were not too commonplace for my eyes.  

My girls roll their eyes when they find me downstairs watching the Blue Planet and Planet Earth series on our big screen TV.  What would happen if we eyeballed the intricate details of God’s creation as we also walked through unexplainable suffering or uncertainty in our personal lives?  Would it make a difference? Think of parents today who send their children to school who do not return, because death swept them away due to a man with a weapon gone mad.  Life is vulnerable!  Understatement.

Take into account the ancient yet relevant story of a man named Job (pronounced Jobe) who not only lost his 10 children in “one” day, he lost his wealth and his health. After Job listened to the unfounded advice of three friends, regarding why he lost everything, he still of-course had questions.

God shows up and instead of answering those questions, He displays a panoramic “Discovery-Channel-like” response, referencing all sorts of animals and birds and their design which left Job speechless. God said, “Is it your wisdom that makes the hawk soar and spread its wings toward the south? Is it at your command that the eagle rises to the heights to make its nest?” God continued: “Do you still want to argue with the Almighty? You are God’s critic, but do you have the answers?”

How can anyone respond?  In the very last chapter of Job (42) he replies to God, “I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you. You asked, “Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’ It is I-and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me.”

From Portraits of Perseverance, author Henry Gariepy states, “God’s lesson to Job was that if Job could not understand the providence of God as revealed in the natural world around him, how then could he understand the higher spiritual realm of providence in God’s ways and care for man?”  

Since you and I cannot figure out God’s incredible design of our physical world, will you still trust Him even though you do not understand the cards He dealt you?

pictures courtesy of “Nelson & His Nikon”.