Be still....

I stood in the middle of the wooded trail, trees all around me. On the path before me I could see no ground, only leaves covering every inch of ground. If I turned to look behind me I would see nothing but trees and dirt. Ahead of me, was more of the same. Woods. Nature. Creation.

I stood perfectly still, feeling, listening. The breeze was strong. It blew against me but more importantly, it blew through creation. I stopped all but breathing…and simply…was. I didn’t think, didn’t move, didn’t…anything. I was nothing in the vast expanse of creation. The wind blew through the trees with a sound that reminded me of the rush of air you hear at the ocean, only it kind of crackled as it blew the leaves. The trees moved from side to side, as if waving. These huge, 60…100 foot trees, trees I couldn’t move if I wanted to, were moved about by the wind, a wind that was pleasant.

I was reminded of the verse…

… Be still, and know that I am God…Psalm 46:10 NIV

As I stood there…I could do nothing but be still…and I could in no way not know that He is God.

I was reminded too of…

Ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind. Job 12:7-10

As I stood there, unmoving, barely breathing…absorbing…creation. I didn’t speak to the earth but I felt it. I could do nothing but learn from it. And as I watched the trees waving in the wind, seeming to reach to heaven…so intricate…so perfect…so important…so…awe inspiring, for what person can create such…I couldn’t help but know that I was standing in the midst of the work of the Lord. This was what he spoke (Genesis 1) into creation…this and so much more.

And I…was insignificant in the midst of His creation.

And yet…I was the reason He created it…I, and all His other people.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. Psalm 19:1-4

As I stood there, the wind blowing against me, around me, watching it shake the trees until they waved, hearing it rush through the woods…it was nothing short of the Glory of God. It was as if the wind and the trees, even the leaves littering the ground in a thick blanket, were declaring His handiwork…and they were…for all to see, only I was the only one seeing. It was a moment just for me.

And I took that moment to just…

Be.

Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse. Romans 1:20

There I was…so insignificant…in the midst of His eternal power, seeing His divine nature in the creation around me, feeling it as it blew against me. And I understood. And in that understanding I could do nothing but…

Be still…

And know that He is God.