Beauty

God is our refuge and strength, 
A very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear,
   though the earth should change
And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;
Though its waters roar and foam, 
Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride.
--Psalm 46:1-3

When I read that this morning, I started to picture what it literally says: epic landslides and tsunamis and the earth imploding. This Psalm is about holding on to God in the midst of chaos. If our earth suffered unexpected catastrophe, and even the natural world--mountains, seas, etc.--fell apart, we would have nothing to make sense of our lives except for God. He is our only calibration. And then the Psalm tells us that, in that event, we actually would not have to fear because He is bigger than the biggest disaster we can imagine.

I was like, "Ok, gotcha. God is big. We literally have NOTHING to fear." That alone was impressive and reassuring to me as I sat pondering. Then I felt the Holy Spirit prompt me: "Who do you think made the mountains and the sea?"

The natural world is the manifestation of the imagination of our God. YOU are the manifestation of the imagination of our God. He is a creator.  I mean, He speaks, and galaxies happen. He thought of DNA. He built you from scratch. He can't help but create. It's His nature.

Psalm 46 continues: "He raised his voice, the earth melted." His words are able to create or destroy. But He has to consciously decide to destroy. His default setting is "create" and "unimaginable beauty." All His ways are perfect. He makes things alive and colorful just by going near them. Think on that for a second.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.--Ecclesiastes 3:11

This verse is clear: we cannot understand the intricate plans of God. But we are built to seek after His heart and long for His beauty.

God is the definition of "beautiful." Unless He chooses to destroy, He cannot touch something and NOT make it beautiful.

If you let Him touch you, if you let Him come even a little bit near you, you will not be able to help being restored to life and beauty.  He is the essence of beauty; He is a creator; and He created YOU.

How could you not be beautiful?

"Cease striving and know that I am God"--Psalm 46:10

That one is pretty self-explanatory.