day 22 - big: seeing His creation

31 Days Index 

Seeing His creation...this is all about traveling, right?  Nope. Though I am a definite advocate for traveling. I couldn't have experienced this past year and not admit that I am, indeed, passionate about seeing the world...

From Left to Right: Sonoma, CA  |  (up) Kushadasi, Turkey  |  (down) Messina, Sicily  |  San Francisco, CA  |  Nashville, TN  |  Chania, Crete  |  Orlando, FL  |  Ephesus, Turkey  |  Rome, Italy  |  (up) Nassau, Bahamas  |  (down) Athens, Greece  |  Bujumbura, Burundi

Mark and I coined 2013 as our "Year of Travel." Pumped to be married, no kiddos, two frugal people who are good at saving moo-lah AND love traveling...oh, and let's not forget to add a whole summer without work before we moved from Charlotte to Wilmington. It was the perfect recipe! We are very thankful that God carved out this irreplaceable, unique time for us to adventure and see the world together.

 

So...yes, travel is lovely. (Very lovely!) Eye-opening. Humbling. Out of our normal, safe, predictable comfort zones.

But...that's still not what this post is about! It's deeper than that. (Can you tell I don't like to keep things surface level!? Sheesh!) This post, "seeing His creation," is about shifting your perspective so that you see Him in everything. 

I'll say it again: this is about shifting your perspective so that you see Him in everything. 

EV-ER-Y-THING.

The Bible doesn't say that "some things were created by Him and for Him." No. It specifically says that "ALL things were created by Him and for Him."

The leaves changing color shout His glory.
The little one who is testing your patience was created by a King!
The acquaintance of yours who is driving you crazy...yep, that person was created in the image of God as well.
That big decision you feel anxious about.
The two-mile-long to do list staring at you.
The shirt on your back.
The hot coffee in your mug.
Every single grain of sand.
By Him.
For Him.

So what does all of this mean?

We have the opportunity to choose whether or not we will view the world as God's. What would happen if we were consistently intentional about shifting our perspective to view all things as made by Him and for Him?

 

If we choose to live our days seeing ourselves and our world created by Him and for Him...trusting that God works ALL things together for our good (see Romans 8:28)...well, there's just a lot of freedom in that.  A lot of freedom. A lot of peace. A lot of thanksgiving and gratefulness. All for His glory.

For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through Him and for Him. 

Colossians 1:16

Happy Tuesday...shift your perspective. :)

 

And if you have any questions/thoughts about this subject, please don't hesitate to shoot me an email! I know sometimes big topics are a lot wrap our heads around. (And I am very aware that I can be confusing...especially in a post like this where I wanted to go on about 10,000 tangents regarding the Fall, sin, free will, new life etc.) Bottom line: I'd truly love to chat more with you about your faith/thoughts/questions! I'm only an email away! ;)