The Wisdom of Creation

Proverbs 30:24-28, The Message – There are four small creatures,

    wisest of the wise they are—

        ants—frail as they are,

            get plenty of food in for the winter;

        marmots—vulnerable as they are,

            manage to arrange for rock-solid homes;

        locusts—leaderless insects,

            yet they strip the field like an army regiment;

        lizards—easy enough to catch,

            but they sneak past vigilant palace guards.

                Proverbs 30 has a series of poetic units that gather wisdom from observations of nature.  The above text is one example.  One of the threads that run though all these sayings is that creation itself speaks wisdom if we are paying attention.  The implication here though is that most people are not, in fact, paying attention and thus, miss this wisdom.  At first glance at a mound of ants, it looks like utter chaos, but if you watch closely for a bit, you will begin to see that all that “chaos” is purposeful.  Similarly, Marmots (Hyraxes, in another translation), locusts and lizards reveal wisdom of their own to those who are giving more than cursory observation to their ways. 

                Together, all these poetic units in Proverbs 30 build a case for the mindful observation of the ways of creation.  Those who would be wise obvious need good teachers, but one of those teachers is creation.  My encouragement today is to pay attention to the details around you that you normally would ignore or take for granted.  Be open to God revealing wisdom and truth to you with not even a spoken word uttered.

Question:  What, if anything, is nature teaching you these days?

Prayer:  Lord, teach me Your wisdom in the things I see every day but really don’t see.  Amen.

Prayer Focus:  Pray for the specific ministries of your church and the leaders of those ministries.

Song:  God of Wonders – Third Day