There it was. A four leafed clover. I picked it up and put it with the others. Tom and I found five of these little mutants in five minutes. So how do we get so lucky? Simple. We look. Four leafed clovers are everywhere in the Springtime. But because most people don’t expect to see them, they don’t look.
God wants us to get lucky. He wants to be found. And to find God, we should expect to see Him. All we have to do is look. Here’s what David says in Psalm 19:
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is deprived of its warmth.
Clearly, God’s qualities are on display throughout His creation. He wants us to be reminded of Him as our “bridegroom” in the everyday sunsets, storms, and seasons. We can expect to learn more about His awesome power when we expectantly look for it. We who know Christ don’t worship nature, we worship the one who created it!
If you’ve got even three out of the five senses, you’re pretty lucky today. You’ll see, hear, smell, touch, or taste some of what the God of the universe is revealing about Himself–especially if you are on a hike.
So here are some of the ways Tom and I got lucky during our last few weekly hikes:
- We tasted peppermint plants, sassafras leaves, and crisp cold water from a pump in the park. (Oh taste and see that the Lord is good!)
- We felt the wind and rain, the burning of a stinging nettle plant, the cool of green grass on bare feet, and the stiff quill of a turkey feather.
- We smelled distant campfires, pine forests, lake water, and hiking boots.
- We heard all kinds of birds (the creepy mourn of a screech owl, the robotic gargle of a pileated woodpecker, the whirling buzz of a veery…) and we heard water bubble over rocks, wind through leaves overhead, the rumble of thunder, and the whine of mosquitoes.
- And we saw four rattlesnakes, a porcupine, a bald eagle, some cool looking butterflies, and blue skies through green leaves so bright it took our breath away.
So get out there and expect to get lucky this week. Open your senses to what God might reveal about Himself. Enjoy your weekly hike.