Humility and Worship
In the course of writing this blog I have indicated numerous times that the world we live in should be viewed as a marvelous gift from God. Today I thought of a couple more reasons why Creation is such a wonderful gift. First, it helps move us to worship. I often share with my congregation that worshipping God is the most important thing we can do as humans. Looking at and studying the natural world helps us realize the greatness of God. This, ideally, will lead us to worship Him.
Second, and this is directly related to the first reason, it helps to keep us humble. When we look at God’s gift of Creation and contemplate the wisdom, power and love that are revealed in it we recognize our true position before God. All of a sudden we don’t seem so big or in control of things.
In most of the Book of Job we find Job pretty confident that he understands how everything works (or should work) and that he has control over his own life, but in chapter 38 God finally speaks and asks “Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?” God goes on to ask Job a lot of questions that reveal to Job that his understanding is lacking and that he is definitely not in control of things.
If you’ll take time to read Job 38-41 you’ll discover that most of God’s questions to Job pertain to the natural world. Here are a few examples. “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?” “Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?” “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or seen the storehouses of the hail…?” “Can you bind the beautiful Pleiades? Can you loose the cords of Orion?”
By the time Job responds in chapter 42 he is a humbled man and is ready to offer God worship. He says “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.”
Like Job, in nature I find “things too wonderful for me to know” and this both humbles me and leads me to want to worship the Creator more.
–Chuck
(The image above was taken at Mt. Rainier National Park a number of years ago. Before this great mountain I definitely felt humbled!)