All Creation is Preaching: Let Yourself Stop, Look, and Listen
T.M. Moore writes, “One of the central teachings of Scripture is that the natural world is not at all natural. It is the creation of a supernatural God. What we routinely call ‘nature’ is in fact ‘creation’” (Consider the Lilies, 100).
All Creation Is Preaching
Pause right where you are. Take a moment to notice what creation shows you about God.
The boom of thunder (Psalm 29:3–4)
The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
The voice of the Lord—his power on display in the thunderstorm.
The ruthlessness of lions (Psalm 7:1–2)
O Lord my God, in you do I take refuge; save me from all my pursuers and deliver me, lest like a lion they tear my soul apart, rending it in pieces, with none to deliver.
David pictures himself as a helpless lamb stalked by a hungry, roaring lion. Soon the lion would stop toying with him, seize him, tear him apart, and devour him.
The fragility of sheep (Psalm 78:52)
Then he led out his people like sheep and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
God personally led his people the way a caring shepherd leads a flock—going before them and making a safe path to the promised land.
The sweetness of honey (Psalm 19:10)
More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
God’s instructions are more desirable than the greatest riches and sweeter than the finest taste.
The strength of horses (Psalm 20:7)
Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
Even the strongest tools of war remind us where true security is found: not in power, but in the name of the Lord.
The defenselessness of snails (Psalm 58:8)
Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime,
The picture is of a snail wasting away in its own trail as it moves along.
The lushness of fields after rain (Psalm 23:2)
He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
A peaceful place to rest and be nourished.
The heavens and the earth—and everything that fills them—declare the glory of God. What might we see, hear, and experience if we were willing to stop and truly look?
“Created reality brings God’s perfections home to us in ways that are visible, concrete, and particular,” writes Joe Rigney. “They keep God’s attributes and characteristics from being mere abstractions, because it’s impossible for us to love a list of qualities” (The Things of Earth, 65).
Everything God has made is preaching—loud, clear, and everywhere we turn—yet we often keep our heads down, scrolling on our phones, barely paying attention.
There is hope—always hope—for eyes that have grown dim. Creation will never stop declaring the excellencies of our King, and we will never exhaust all that makes him excellent. So let yourself stop. Watch. Listen a little longer. Look for what God has made, and expect to glimpse something supernatural.
