One of my favorite things to do is to take pictures of a sunset. Whether it’s a pale watercolor sky or the bold colors after a storm, the beauty of a sunset stirs something deep inside me and calls me to reach for a camera to memorialize it in a photo. Even though I know my phone can’t capture the subtleties and richness of the sky and will probably produce only a poor imitation of the view in front of me, I feel compelled to try anyway.
Being out in nature has always been one of the ways I’ve felt closest to God. In her book Inspired, author Rachel Held Evans discusses why the creation story is so powerful. The truth of this story reminds us that God is found everywhere: in every blade of grass, every drop of water, every birdsong, and every star in the sky. He does not need a building of stone in which to reign. He “dwells in every landscape and in the presence of the humble will make a home.”
It is easy to feel awe and reverence in holy spaces. But how often do we stop and marvel at the humble things that God has made His home? Do we ever take a moment to appreciate the colorful spread of wildflowers along the highway or the music of cicadas on a summer evening? All of these wonders shout the glory of God, from the most dazzling rainbow to the smallest weeds doggedly pushing their way out of a crack in the sidewalk.
Although God’s glory is all around us, so often we take it for granted. It’s easy to let the simple aspects of our lives fade into the background of the mundane as we fail to recognize them for the marvels they are. But how glorious it is that we don’t need to be in a building to worship God when reminders of Him are all around us. He has made the entire cosmos His temple, and we are always in a space to give Him glory! All we need to do is stop and smell the roses.