Beauty sings of Him

       "He has made everything beautiful in it's time.  He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." (Ecc.3:11)
       Something I recently heard on beauty (this is a rough paraphrase): Beauty is a gift from God to us, for the Lord uses beauty to stir our hearts and to help us see how good and great He is.  
       There are all kinds of beauty--from the quiet beauty of a sunset to the happy beauty of a loved one's laugh to the astounding beauty of a majestic mountain to the satisfying beauty of a meal shared with family to the peaceful beauty of a fireplace and open Bible.
       When we see such beauty, what's our response?  Indifference and pride...or gratitude and worship?
       Do we slow down to savor that beauty and then immediately point to God--the Source and Creator of that beauty--and give Him praise?    
       At the moment, I'm thinking of the contented, grateful beauty of remembered moments.  The beauty of thankfulness in God's goodness in even the simplest events of our lives.  Just a few examples from this weekend:  A wonderful dinner at Crooks with several of our children--

 Thank You Lord for the beauty of those we cherish, the beauty of fellowship, the beauty of beloved places we enjoy together, and well, of course, the beauty of Mt.Airy Chocolate Soufflé cake!
       Then there was the beauty of savoring one last high school prom for our senior...and the beauty of all those amazing friendships with the kids and with their families--

        And just today, the beauty of watching a dear family friend, Roy, earn his Eagle Scout badge--and feeling not just proud of him but also thankful, so thankful, once again, for the gift of friendship.

        Beauty sings of glory.
       Yes!  Every shred of beauty we glimpse in this world--whether relational beauty, creation beauty, inward heart beauty--all sings of some aspect of God's astounding, infinite, magnificent glory.  And as we increasingly reflect Christ's character, we too, become more and more beautiful...inside and out.  He is the Source and Creator of all beauty.  He is the Beautiful One.  Oh might we reflect His beauty to the world as the moon reflects the light of the sun.
       One last reminder of beauty I found a few minutes ago in a book I was reading.  One of Janie's dear friends in college made it for us--

        Yep, that pretty much sums it up.  If we want to be reflect God's beauty and bring Him glory, we must daily, moment by moment, "look to the Lord."  As we look to Him, we become more like Him and increasingly radiate His astonishing, beautiful glory.
       He is our radiance.  He is our wisdom.  He is our peace.  He is our joy.  He is our hope.  He is our  love.  He is our forgiveness. He is our grace.  He is our beauty.  He is our glory.  He is our all in all.
        He is our Lord.
        Thank You, Father, that You make all, all, all things beautiful in Your time...sometimes even the things or events or people that might not seem so beautiful to us at the time.  In Your sovereign ways and in Your nail-scarred hands, even the ugly or confusing or difficult will one day ultimately become grace-stained beautiful.
        Father, help us this day and everyday to see and savor the beauty You have created, and might we then immediately turn to give You all the thanks and glory.
        Thank You for singing through Your beauty.  Gives us eyes to see and ears to hear.
        To God be the glory.