No Time for Beauty

What’s the most beautiful thing you’ve seen today?

Some days, I’m too overwhelmed by life’s demands to find anything beautiful. Appreciating beauty takes time. It means pausing to enjoy the view as my plane descends from a long flight. It means meditating on the movements of a tumultuous stream. It means stopping for a moment, to rest, contemplate and allow myself to experience the joy of God’s creation.

It all sounds well and good when you don’t feel buried under the stress of a full-time job or taking care of family, or running a million daily errands.

I’m just too busy for beauty, I think. I have a million things on my to-do list, and staring at the sunset just isn’t one of them.

Experiencing God's Creation

When I’m not enjoying the pleasures of God’s creation, I feel less connected to God’s presence in my life. I go through the daily motions, complete all the items on my checklist and wake up the next day to do it all over again. But then God slowly reminds me of the beauty that he created. He reminds me when I look at newly fallen snow. He reminds me when the sun peeks through the clouds on a grey morning. When God created the world, he didn’t just call it good—it was very good! (Genesis 1:31, CEV). When I take the time to experience God’s goodness in creation, I see the beauty in the world—even when I’m stressed, anxious and fearful.

Are you feeling too overwhelmed to enjoy what God has given you? Take some time to think of how God formed the things around you to show you his glory and beauty as you read through these verses:

1. God created the heavens and stretched them out;
       he fashioned the earth and all that lives there;
       he gave life and breath to all its people. – Isaiah 42:5 (GNTD)
2. He rules over the whole earth,
       from the deepest caves to the highest hills.
   He rules over the sea, which he made;
       the land also, which he himself formed.
   Come, let us bow down and worship him;
       let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! – Psalm 95:4-6 (GNTD)
3. Lord, your constant love reaches the heavens;
       your faithfulness extends to the skies. – Psalm 36:5 (GNTD)
4. How clearly the sky reveals God's glory!
       How plainly it shows what he has done!
   Each day announces it to the following day;
       each night repeats it to the next.
   No speech or words are used,
       no sound is heard;
   yet their message goes out to all the world
       and is heard to the ends of the earth.
   God made a home in the sky for the sun;
       it comes out in the morning like a happy bridegroom,
       like an athlete eager to run a race.
   It starts at one end of the sky
       and goes across to the other.
       Nothing can hide from its heat. – Psalm 19:1-6 (GNTD)