Hearing His Voice #227

[Solomon] could speak with authority about all kinds of plants, from the great cedar of Lebanon to the tiny hyssop that grows from cracks in a wall. He could also speak about animals, birds, small creatures, and fish.

1 Kings 4:33

The sages of Israel believed that God’s wisdom was liberally infused in His creation. So observing created things was not just a matter of curiosity or science. It was a peek into God’s ways. That’s one reason the writer of 1 Kings, in describing Solomon’s wisdom, goes on to declare his insights about animals, birds, small creatures, and fish. It’s also why Proverbs is filled with lessons from the industriousness of ants, the unity of locusts, the craftsmanship of spiders, the strength of lions, and more. (See Proverbs 30:15-33 for a few examples.) By observing the things God has made, sages believed they could learn some things about God’s ways.

We can too. God has filled creation with illustrations of His ways and His attributes. Scripture speaks of Him in terms of light, water, dew, thunder, wind, and more. It encourages us to emulate the best traits found in the animal kingdom. We can get illustrations of God’s work from the fields of agriculture, medicine, technology, arts, media, government, physics, astronomy, history, and many more. No single illustration is perfect or complete; God is infinite and beyond our full understanding. But each example provides an illuminating picture of God’s nature. That’s why the study of any field of inquiry is worthwhile, and why anyone who studies anything in truth and depth can eventually find evidence of God in what is studied. God has written Himself into His world.

Live with curious wonder about the world around you. Though fallen and distorted, it nevertheless offers innumerable glimpses into the divine. The physical reflects the spiritual more often than we imagine. And in that reflection, we can hear the voice of the one who made it.

Lord, I would love to recapture the curiosity I had as a child, and I know I would learn more about You and Your ways if I could. Fill me with an inquisitive spirit that seeks out Your truths in the forms and functions of Your world.