My husband, Frank, and I have been going through a devotional on the Psalms by Tim and Kathy Keller*. Recently, we looked at Psalm 104:5-9.
He set the earth on its foundations;
it can never be moved.
You covered it with the watery depths as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
But at your rebuke the waters fled,
at the sound of your thunder they took to flight;
they flowed over the mountains,
they went down into the valleys,
to the place you assigned for them.
You set a boundary they cannot cross;
never again will they cover the earth.
From these verses, the Kellers brought out how the basics of science that have been “discovered.” There are rules and laws of nature that allow us to depend on the behavior of the elements. These laws and rules are being learned by scientists and because of them, there have been many inventions and medical remedies that enhance our lives. Aerodynamics, physics, biology and all the other sciences are based on the dependability that God built into creation.
This is a long road to get to my point! I often have trouble thinking creatively about how to be thankful. My thanksgiving sometimes lacks that element of awe and wonder. Of course I am thankful for health, family, church, rain, etc. But through this reflection I see more clearly how God’s hand has led people to be able to create all kinds of things that we take for granted. Electricity, cars, televisions, cell phones, even our houses with air conditioning and heating. Lighting and running water. In the field of medicine I can’t even begin to list what God has made possible by his wisdom in creating the universe – and all that is in it.
I have been and am grateful for all of these things, but I thought of them as blessings that God afforded me to receive – already intact. I can not only be thankful for the provisions that God affords me, but I can think “under the surface” and realize how this world can be a bit of a puzzle that God has made, and that he leads us to put some of the pieces together to assemble new things. As usual, these new ways of putting things together can be useful and/or detrimental to us and our earth.
This drew a new picture for me of how to see the world as God’s creation – ongoing and developing; and that he is gracious to allow the discoveries that bring about new things. Let us use this knowledge for good and be thankful to God that he is the God of order, not of chaos.
Brenda is very busy in her retirement enjoying her family as well as being an Inspire Missioner mentoring fellowship bands and house fellowships.
*The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms, By Timothy Keller with Kathy Keller. Viking, 2015.
