Noticing Beauty
There’s beauty all around us. All it takes is a moment or two to slow down and take a peek for us to find some piece of creation to leave us in awe. But with the pace of life, we rarely take the time to stop and notice.
I was at the beach the other day and a buddy of mine said, “Santa Barbara is an amazing place.” It was like someone gave me a new set of glasses. Suddenly I was seeing the beach a whole new way. The crashing of the waves into the coastline lit up with majesty. All I needed was a little reminder.
It’s interesting how we can be in the same place as someone else and have utter different experiences and takeaways. I remember back when I was a kid. My parents had just finished putting a pool in our backyard. This, of course, was a months long process to dig the hole, pour the concrete, add the tile, and ultimately fill with water. I told my parents once the pool was done, I was going to swim every single day.
The mornings were my favorite. I loved running down the hallway just to look out the window and see the 82-degree heated water just begging for me to jump in. And I stayed true to my word – for a few days. But as time goes on the pool begins to fade into “the backyard” and something kind of sad happens – you get used to it.
This is what happened to me at the beach the other day. I had gotten used to it. All it took was an unassuming comment to remind me of the ocean’s awe-inspiring power and how beautiful and alive the hillside is leading to the water.
Now, you don’t need the vastness of the Pacific Ocean or a pool in your backyard to find what I mean. It could be that tree outside your window blooming back to life, or the ladybug that landed on your shirt. It could be the smile from a friend, or the warmth of the sun. There is beauty all around us.
How would your day look different if you practiced pausing? To refuse the urge to pull your phone out when you have a free minute and instead lift your head and look around. Jesus uses the beauty of nature in His famous Sermon on the Mount. As a charge against being anxious He says, “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like on of these. If God so clothes the grass of the field, … will He not much more clothe you,” (Matthew 6:28-30).
See, beauty has a number of functions, and most important of all it’s to turn us to worship the One who Created these things. It’s from that place that we can see a flower, marvel at its beauty, and it can serve as a reminder that God loves us and will take care of us. If He took the time to intently create the intricacies of a tulip, how much more will He spend time with you.
Paul mentions, “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns” (Philippians 1:6).
Friend, I want to encourage you to take some time today, even if just a minute, and look around. Find something beautiful and consider it. If God made that thing, then He also made you. And how much more does He care about you. Let’s practice noticing the beauty around us and turning to the Lord in worship both for His creativity and the fact that He has even better and more beautiful things to do in you and me than all the glory to be found in the Pacific.
