¹¹ And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. ¹² The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ¹³ And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. (Genesis 1:11-13 ESV)

¹⁸ For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty,  he formed it to be inhabited!): “I am the Lord, and there is no other. (Isaiah 45:18 ESV)

One of the things I love about living in Coastal SC is the way spring comes forth in every imaginable shade of green that exist and then some. Vermont has it’s fall colors, but here we have spring greens. It takes my breath away every year! We can go from sparse grays and brown forests to an abundance of foliage in the course of one good week of sunshine and warmer temperatures. As an artist and one who is always observing the nuances of colors, light, shadows and shades, it makes my heart leap for joy. The above was a meager attempt of capturing what I saw one day as I passed over a bridge. I knew I could not create every shade of green I saw, and it may not be 50 shades of green but it certainly feels like it to me.

After a long week and a long month of meetings, appointments and commitments, I was driving to yet another commitment when I saw God’s beautiful creation on display as if to say, “Stop! Take a look at me!” And while I could not make a traffic jam on the bridge in that moment, my mind’s eye took a snapshot to hold the moment in my memory. As I pondered the memory and the vision of a new season bursting forth before my eyes, I could not help but think about the creation story. We tend to only look at what was created, but I think we seldom realize the intricate details with which it is made. He made trees to be distinguished by their fruit, their leaves and even their colors. He made flowers to bloom in a wide, wide array of types, colors and forms. He even created animals of different colors often to match their environment. Who cannot stand in awe and wonder of Creation?

The next morning, I started my morning devotions, reading from the book of Isaiah. I was already in awe and amazement at how God predicted the birth, name and reign of a king named Cyrus who would set the Israelite captives free, well over a hundred years before it happened (Is. 44:1). Then further down, as a means to help Israel understand that the prophetic word was true, God announced Himself as the One God who created the heavens and the earth. The words leaped up at me, as I remembered the mental snapshot moment on the bridge the day before. The two together, caused a peace to wash over me in the face of yet another morning of troubling news reels, speculations and doom reports.

Everything, I mean EVERYTHING is in God’s hands. The pause to notice His creation was not a mistake. The timing of His word for the day was not a mistake. And while a lot of things around me seem out of control, destined for failure or violence, the one God took time to remind me that even the signs of the times are not a mistake. They are in His hands for one purpose and one alone, to cause me, to cause His creation to recognize that He alone is God.