Morning Watch Monday: Taking Pause

Camp is beautiful this time of year. Through my window whistles a cool, refreshing breeze that has traveled over many hills, winding its way through lush green trees now capped with the reds, oranges and yellows of an incoming Fall. We are just weeks away from even more breathtaking mountains than normal, as far as the eye can see and full of every color you can imagine. I am not one to be stopped in my tracks by views, but this time of year it is undeniably breathtaking, and worth a pause.

Speaking of taking pause, this past summer I experienced a moment in the middle of the day that actually stopped me in my tracks. It was during our second Free Choice period of the day when the campers had completed their planned activities and were spending time in different areas of camp for a spell. I had passed under the rollercoaster as campers screamed with joy overhead, when I noticed a group of young boys around 9 years old on their hands and knees in the creek bed. They were stealthy, substantially wet and dirty, and completely silent. I observed curiously.

“Here’s one!” one of them exclaimed as he lifted a red salamander over his head from the trickling waters. “Let me see! Let me see!” scrambled the other boys to his side, climbing over each other for a look. Yet the fascination was shortlived as the silence returned, and each boy assumed his position next to the creek, hoping to be the next one to victoriously discover the next slimy treasure. They stayed in that creek the whole period, and returned to it many times during the session.

These young campers reminded me that there are mysteries to be discovered around us every day, and that there is adventure in the process of discovery. There is a seemingly endless vault of revelations to be made by interacting with both nature and the people around us. Yet, there is an even deeper mystery to be discovered in these moments—we get to know God as we uncover the mysteries of our lives and the people and world around us. These are the ways that our God delights in revealing Himself to us!

Psalm 19 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech, and 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, and their words to the ends of the world.”

Romans 1 declares, “For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”

It can be overwhelming, even intimidating, to think about God being so interwoven into our everyday lives. Yet the delight and joy of realizing that the One who made everything, including each of us, is unendingly creative, mysterious, and adventurous. We are drawn to those things because we are made in his image. God loves to reveal His heart to us, his children!