GUEST BLOGGER
My guest blogger today is the pastor of Severn Baptist Church, in Severn, North Carolina. Mark Corbett is married to Hope Corbett and their daughter, Joy, rounds out the family. Mark's post below follows the theme of my blog, as he, too, loves to write about seeing God in nature.
Please read his words below and read more of his posts at http://parresiazomai.blogspot.com/.
Seeing God in Creation Gives Me Courage to Keep
Serving Him (part 3 in the Why I Believe series)
by Mark Corbett
My own experience affirms what the Bible clearly teaches:
NIV Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible
qualities-- his eternal power and divine nature-- have been clearly seen, being
understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
God constantly reminds me through His creation that He is
real and powerful and wise and good. There is a scientific side to this truth
that I want to address in future posts.
But long before we had telescopes and microscopes and before we knew
about DNA and the fundamental forces of physics, people could still see
evidence of God everywhere. As King David
sang,
NIV Psalm 19:1b The heavens declare the glory
of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
A Butterfly with a Job to Do
When Joy was young and we were
living in Indonesia, we took her to Bantimurung, a nature park famous for waterfalls and butterflies. While there, a butterfly landed on Hope’s
finger and was content to rest there long enough for me to take several photos.
That butterfly had a job to
do. Joy’s look of wonder as she looks at
the same butterfly sitting on a rock told us that
this butterfly was doing a great job of reminding Joy, and us, that we have a
wonderful Creator.
Remembering Our Creator When We Face Opposition
Thinking about God as our
powerful Creator does much more than help us to initially believe in Him.
In Acts chapter 4, Peter and
John are arrested for speaking about Jesus.
The religious leaders command them to stop talking about Jesus (Acts
4:18). After being released, Peter and
John call a prayer meeting. In their
prayer, remembering that their God is the Creator of everything gives them
courage:
Acts 4:24 When they
heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. "Sovereign
Lord," they said, "you made the heavens and the earth and the sea,
and everything in them. . . .29 Now, Lord, consider their threats
and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.
Good for Everyday Problems, Too
I admit that sometimes I’m wimpy. I’ve never been arrested for speaking the
gospel, but even small problems like taxes, bills, and a long “To Do” list can
cause me to feel stressed out and a bit overwhelmed. I am so grateful that our God helps us with
our small problems as well as the biggies.
Many times on an early morning walk, God has spoken to me about His
goodness, faithfulness, and power through a beautiful sunrise.
The consistency of the sunrise reminds me that my
God is faithful.
The ability of the sun to light up the whole sky
reminds me that my God is powerful.
The beauty of the sunrise reminds me that God is
good.
And the transition from darkness to light reminds
me that my problems are temporary and God’s glory is eternal.
So the next time you are feeling tempted to worry,
or pressured to give in, take a look at the sky above, or the flowers in your
yard, or the birds flying by, and remember God and gain new strength to keep
believing and keep following Jesus.
Before Mark Corbett became the pastor of Severn Baptist Church in Severn, North Carolina, his family served the Lord in Indonesia for fourteen years, and prior to that, Mark served in the Navy for five years. Mark says on his website: "By God's grace, I am a child of God and a servant of our Lord Jesus Christ."
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