The Spice of Variety - Martin Wiles

For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible. Colossians 1:16 NLT

Fog and low clouds enveloped our destination, giving it the proper atmosphere for the filming of a horror movie.

My wife and I set out for a day trip to Balsam Mountain, North Carolina. We planned to visit the primitive campground atop the mountain, perhaps as a future camping spot, and to drive the 18-mile gravel road back to Cherokee. Since hot temps had dominated our area, we looked forward to the cool temps the area boasted about—never getting over 70 degrees.

What greeted us was eerier yet more beautiful than we had imagined. Only a few people camped at the primitive sites which were soaked from the heavy fog and dew. A sign warned us we had entered bear habitat. We didn’t know whether this secluded area would be a good spot to take our young grandsons camping or not.

After scouting out the campsite, we began our trek down the gravel road. Rocks and rain-washed gulleys littered our path. We worried whether or not my wife’s small car would make it. But the road said one way. No turning back.

Though most wildflowers had bloomed out, many still shone their colors in this high-elevation area. Only four other people traveled the road with us. Like us, they were in no hurry. We made frequent stops to take pictures of wildflowers, odd-colored mushrooms, waterfalls, and old bridges. We had entered a rain forest, just not a tropical one.

Four hours later—and 800 pictures later—we exited the gravel road safely and made our way to Cherokee where we enjoyed a picnic lunch.

According to Paul, Christ created everything we can and cannot see. The beauty of the area we traversed reminded us of the statement’s truth. We marveled—and were humbled.

I’ve learned I can’t box God in. Just when I think I have Him figured out, He’ll do something differently. Traditions can’t define or confine Him, nor can my limited understanding. We couldn’t understand how the climate could be so radically different when we were only three hours away from our home.

God is sovereign, which comforts me. The beauty of the world He created and controls staggers my imagination, as does the fact that He saves all who call on Him.

Learn to enjoy the variety God has placed in the world. Don’t try to box Him in by your limited understandings and traditions.

Prayer: Father, thank You for giving us a world of variety to experience and enjoy.

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Marvel - Martin Wiles

Just ask the animals, and they will tell you. Ask the birds of the sky, and they will tell you. Speak to the earth, and it will instruct you. Job 12: 7-8 NLT

“You wonder how all this got in one place,” he said.

My brother and his girlfriend were on a three-day camping trip with my wife and me. We chose Devil’s Fork State Park in the mountains of Upstate South Carolina. Campsites overlooked beautiful Lake Jocassee, and several hiking trails were in the park and nearby.

The first two days, we did nothing but sit around and soak in the beauty of nature and some relaxation. On the third day, we set out to find wildflowers on the neighboring trails.

The first trail gave us a rare gaze on patches of the Oconee Bell wildflower. We marveled as small white bell-shaped flowers hung from small plants with rounded green leaves. But the second of the three trails we hiked—the Oconee Station historical site—surpassed our dreams. 

Blooming wildflowers decorated the sides of the trail and the adjoining woods for more than a mile as we made our way to the awaiting waterfall. Many we’d never seen before, flowers that only make their appearance for a short time in early spring, such as purple trillium, Jack-in-the-Pulpit, and May Apple. So many shapes and sizes.

After my brother made his statement at the end of our hikes, his girlfriend motioned to the sky. She didn’t have to say a word. We knew what she meant. So did Job. The earth—and everything on it—speaks of the majesty of the Creator. According to Job, even the afflictions he faced.

When I look at the beauty of the created order, I discover variety yet predictability. These wildflowers will return next year. God created the exact environment they need to grow in this particular area—some in an exact location. God must also love variety or else He would have created everything the same, which would have been simpler.

Gazing on creation presents two options: believe it’s all an accident or believe someone is behind it all. I choose the latter. I also choose to wonder at the God I serve. Greater than all others. Power unlimited. Love unsurpassed. The only proper response is to praise, worship, adore, and trust Him. For everything in life. After all, if He can create such beauty in nature, He can surely take care of us.

Spend some time in nature, and then worship the one who made and controls it all.

Tweetable: Are you taking time to marvel at God's creation? 

Prayer: Father, the beauty of Your creation reminds us of Your love for us.

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Littered but Lovely - Martin Wiles

Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground. Genesis 1:28 NLT

God sticks beauty in the ugliest of places.

Most of my morning walk is through a neighboring subdivision, kept clean by a landscaping company the residents pay to cut the grass and trim the shrubbery. They also blow away debris. Seeing litter here is unusual. When I do see a piece of trash, it looks out of place. But the last leg of my journey takes me behind a row of businesses that back up to our subdivision. While the front of the businesses is tidy, the backs are neglected. Paper litters the roadway and hangs in tree limbs and bushes.

I often wonder if the owners and managers of those businesses ever walk out back and look at the mess. Or why they don’t make their employees clean it up occasionally. I’ve thought about picking up the litter myself, but it’s such a mess that I’d never get through.

Yet as I walked one morning, I noticed beauty in the middle of the mess. Among the pines and oaks that separate the businesses from our subdivision, several mimosa trees bloomed. I marveled over how God can put something lovely among ugly things.

What God originally created and gave humans charge over was beautiful. No trash. No litter of any type. Not even the bodies of the humans were littered. Until sin came in. Like litter, it marred the beauty of God’s creation. Sin causes things to rust and break down. Sin leads humans to trash their world in more ways than by tossing litter on the ground. Sin leads to lust, crime, hate, anger, fear, and a thousand other forms of litter. Sin marred God’s image in humanity.

But all is not lost. Although sin marred, it didn’t destroy. God’s image still rises up for good—especially after we trust Christ as our Savior. It prompts us to do good things—to clean up the litter of our world, physically and spiritually. God’s image in me makes me want to enhance the earth I live on, not trash it. The image makes me want to show kindness, eliminate hate, pick up litter, heal hurts, and do anything possible to bring this world closer to the way it originally was.

Why not think of ways you can put beauty back in God’s world.

Prayer: Father, prompt us to season the world You’ve created with goodness and light. 

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