November 6, 2007

I have never understood how ANYONE can NOT believe there is a God! He is all around us. He has magnified Himself in so many different ways that it is impossible NOT to see Him!

The Master Designer has given us so many masterpieces to display His majesty and His splendor!! I wrote a few weeks ago about just one of them...the ocean. Aaaaaaahhhhh.....NOTHING in creation compares to it!!!!!! But, having said that, there is a close second and that is being in the woods in the fall!

The leaves are turning and the palette of colors is just amazing! There is a hickory tree that is absolutely brilliant it is so yellow! The dogwoods are turning a deep crimson....almost as beautiful in their red coat as they are when they blossom with their ivory flowers in spring. Then there are a myriad of hues in between on the other surrounding trees. It is just breathtakingly beautiful to behold!!!!!! The handiwork of a great and powerful God!

One of my favorite parts of being in the woods this time of year is listening to the wind rustle through the trees. It sounds like the ocean. (Yes, I know you must think I am obscessed with the ocean, but it truly does sound just like it!)

As I sit on the porch drinking my morning coffee, wrapped up in a fleece throw to ward off the chill of the fall morning, it can be incredibly still. So still, that when one leaf falls, you can hear it. That stillness is priceless! How often can you get THAT still and THAT quiet!? I think that is why our guys love hunting so much! They perch themselves in the tree stand to watch for deer, but in the process they are so still and they have a bird's eye view of the splendor before them. They ALL love it!!

Suddenly, out of the stillness, you will hear a sound in the distance... As it approaches, it increases momentum and the sound gets louder. As you watch, the trees to the far left begin to gently sway and then, just like a wave, the wind blows through from tree to tree. Just as that wave dies down, and the trees begin to still, another in the far distance will begin again and here comes another wave! It is so amazing to listen to and to watch.

It reminds me of how God sweeps across our lives when we will just get STILL before Him! We fail too often to do that. Our lives are SO busy! Sometimes I feel like I'm on a merry go round and want to just get off, but there is no "getting-off" spot! So for me, to be able to sit and just soak in the quietness and stillness of the woods is a gift beyond compare. The presence of God just sweeps over me and I drink in the beauty of His handiwork and listen to Him speak as He sends the wind through the trees. There is a peace....a calmness....a quiet reminder that HE IS GOD!!!!!!!!! And this amazing GOD is not just A God, He is MY God!!! He knows ME by name. This Master Designer desires an up close and personal relationship with ME!! I just find that so incredible!!

Unfortunately, I cannot go to the beach or the woods every day. But I CAN get still and alone with God. He encourages us to do just that numerous times in scripture. Jesus modeled in for us as He often got alone to pray. David, called by God "a man after God's own heart", knew how to get alone. In my favorite Psalm in the Bible, Psalm 91, he writes "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty".

We all need our "secret place" where we can get alone with God. He beckons us to do so:


"BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD!!" Psalm 46:10

Today, I encourage you to find a place you can call your "secret place". Make time to get alone with God. If possible, get outside...take a walk or sit on your porch. Drink in this magnificent fall beauty. Recognize the ONE who designed it all and who desires to spend time with you, to speak to you, to calm you, to pour out His love on you. Make the time....He is waiting.