How is God speaking to you through his creation?

Divisional Environmental Champion Kathryn Barwise celebrates that we can look at and learn from God’s creation.

I was born in Merthyr Tydfil, in south Wales. For eight years I was surrounded by glorious mountains – I could always look and see a mountain in the distance. Sound familiar? ‘I lift my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth’ (Psalm 121:1 and 2 English Standard Version).

Of course, it’s only with hindsight I think of this verse. Even when I was growing up, too young to understand, God was helping me in wonderful ways and giving me chances to view his beautiful world and, with it, the knowledge that he was always around.

Imagine the difference when my parents, as officers, were appointed to Suffolk, which is about 35 metres above sea level. I no longer had any hills to look to: Suffolk is really quite flat. However, God’s world is wonderfully varied and what Suffolk lacked in mountains, it was blessed in sunrises and a gorgeous coastline.

Living in Lowestoft, our house was a 15-minute bike ride from the coast, so my dad and I would bike to the seafront for doughnuts and watch the sea come rolling in and out. There was a real peace in hearing the roar of the ocean, and watching the waves at the moment they broke, tumbling into foam. When you watch the waves for long enough, you notice a consistent pattern, with little changes, which develops to form the tide.

Not at age nine, but definitely later in my life, I would watch the waves – the little variances but also the consistent drawing in of the tide – and be reminded of God’s faithfulness. The wave breaks and the foam tumbles down and recedes, then the next wave comes, breaks and the foam tumbles down, receding as another wave comes along. In the same way, God’s always there for us, time and time again – coming to restore us, giving us his awesome help, drawing us into his arms. Those little variances always represented to me how God is with us in the ups and downs, helping us in slightly different ways, but relentlessly there.

Being the most easterly point in Britain, sunrises in Lowestoft are particularly breathtaking and the sunrise service on Easter Day was always very beautiful. At my first one, there were no clouds, so it was perfectly clear.

The anticipation in waiting for the sun to rise each morning creates a sense of hope that is only strengthened when the sun appears and you can feel the Earth being warmed by its rays. It really enhances the line ‘the joy of the Lord is coming in the morning’, from the worship song ‘The Night’s Gone’ by Michelle Martin, because that’s what you feel: the certainty of God’s love to us and the affirmation of his promises that you can always find a reason to sing praise to him, displayed in his wondrous design.

This is why I show my love for God’s creation, because it teaches me so much about God and is an enduring reminder of his characteristics. My challenge to you is to find part of God’s world that you can continually admire to reflect on his character. Who knows what God’s trying to tell you through his beautiful works?