God's Classroom

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” -Psalm 19.1

The holy Scriptures tell us time and again that God’s glory and power are revealed in His creation. Most of us have ventured out into the world and have been in awe at the sheer grandeur of the heavens and the earth, the incalculable power and beauty of everything God has made. His fingerprints are everywhere evident—the petals of a bird of paradise, the flight of a bird, the stars in their courses. Whether we are walking along a beach and reveling in the sheer magnitude of the roar of ocean waves, or cresting a mountain top to view the incredible panorama of mountains against sky, God’s majesty is all around us, drawing us to worship Him.

The writer to the Hebrews wrote that all of creation is held together by the powerful word of our resurrected Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Heb 1:3). Isn’t that amazing? The very word of God the Son sustains the entire universe. What awesome power!

The world of nature is God’s “classroom.” We may learn so much about our God, as well as the lives of faith He desires us to live, by “considering the lilies of the field,” or “observing the birds of the sky” as Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 6:26-29). And so the question becomes why don’t we spend more time in the classroom? Demands of work and home, of course, compete for the precious hours of our days. The culture in which we live creates many distractions. Even so, we must find time to pause, to rest, to wonder at the beauty of the world about us, and marvel at the Author of it—the God who spoke it into existence.

Each day brings with it a sunrise and a sunset, events which are nothing short of opportunities for worship and thankfulness. It’s almost as if the sky itself is caught up in a devoted routine of worship, where it begins and ends each day with ascribing the proper glory to God, for as the Psalmists continues,

“day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge” (Ps 19:2)

—speech and knowledge of our Creator.

Fall is the ideal season for us to spend time in the classroom of God’s great outdoors. The heat has finally dissipated, the leaves are turning with a spectrum of colors from God’s limitless palette. So let’s go. Let’s take hikes together with family and friends, or drives into the country to witness God’s canvas of Autumn, His masterpiece! The Bible says,

“Let the trees of the forest sing, let them sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth” (1 Chron 16:33).

Let’s get outside and listen to their praise of the Creator. Let us join them in holy anthem!