The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:9
Some time ago I set about trying to change myself completely. I told my friends I wanted to be more “sparkly.” What that meant to me was someone who, when they enter a room, people instantly want to be around. Someone who’s laughter draws others in to their sphere. Someone who seems so light of heart and lacking in any strife. Someone who, I said once, practically poops out glitter. Well shock of shocks, I realized that I’m just not ever going to be that person. So, I decided if I’m not “sparkly” then maybe I should try to be “elegant.”
I absolutely love Pinterest. You can ask it how to do anything and up pops a bazillion articles on how to do it. So, as I was scrolling through one day, I kept getting all these “Traits of an Elegant Woman” posts. However, after a recent theology night at my church I decided “elegant” wasn’t my ballywig either. After making some goofy jokes and embarrassing myself in front of complete strangers I realized I had failed just about every point on the “elegant woman” list. So maybe God just wants me to be a better version of who He made me to be? Now there’s a thought!
But in my short-lived quest of elegance, I noticed that God, Himself, has created so much elegance in our world. The Merriam Webster dictionary defines elegance this way:
- Refined grace
- Tasteful richness of design
- Restrained beauty
- Scientific precision
Today I praise God for His elegant creations and His elegant ways. But what do I mean by that? In looking at that list what comes to mind are the everyday sunrises and sunsets of which He blesses our earth. A glorious butterfly that languishes on a leaf. A smooth and quiet breeze. A gentle pattering of rain.
There’s so much to our world that really isn’t necessary for sustaining life. Yet God not only made things good, He made them very good.
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. Genesis 1:31
God is so elegant in the big things like sunsets but also in the behind-the-scenes system of how everything works seamlessly. Think about the entire process of our water cycle: water evaporates from the ocean, creates condensation and is stored in the atmosphere, ice and snow drop, water comes down through rivers and groundwater, and the run-off goes back into the original source. So cool.
This God elegance isn’t always what we might call beautiful. Sometimes it seems terribly violent. A wildfire rips through a forest causing destruction. And yet that fire was also made by God. A necessary step in another elegantly crafted eco-system.
As inhabitants of this world, it’s so easy to not see the minutiae or even the bigger picture. We get trapped in our small, daily lives of running errands, paying bills, raising kids, etc. We should all take time on a regular basis to stop and admire this elegantly crafted world. Lay on your back and contemplate the clouds. Roll over and feel the life giving dirt beneath the grass. Be amazed how the seed from that dandelion blows and lands to bury into the ground to create new life. And marvel about how very, very good it all is.
emboldened.net 