Good Monday morning (4.11.11),

The Bible says we shall go forth with joy and the mountains and the hills will break forth with song and all the trees of the field will clap their hands (Is. 55:12). I’ve always loved that scripture even though it reminded me more of a child’s television show than a holy scripture.

Recently the Lord has been talking to us about opening our spiritual eyes. I’ve been attempting to practice seeing and I’m finally beginning to realize why the hills are singing and the trees are clapping.

The hills and trees rejoice because, in some way that actually does mimic children’s stories, they are simple enough to ignore everything going on around them…the deforestation, the suburban sprawl, the acid rain… and just sing and clap and dance and bow down because of the presence of the Lord upon the earth.

Can I become as simple as a child? Can I be as joyful as a tree?

A tree knows nothing except its Creator. It understands there is only one reason it lives. It has no problems with self-awareness or self-empowerment or self-pity or self-glorification or self-destruction. It’s just sending down roots into soil for nourishment and reaching up branches toward the life giving sun.

If I really try, I think I can learn something from that tree. Something momentous and life altering. Something freeing.

Put down roots where I can be fed; lift my hands and face toward heaven. Rejoice. How simple is that?

The Bible explains that the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth. I never knew what that meant until I heard the testimony of the man who spent 23 minutes in hell. He said that hell is a literal place characterized by the absence of anything belonging to God. Since every good and perfect gift comes from God (James 1:16-18), then hell is a place devoid of anything good or perfect.

Conversely, everything I encounter that is good or perfect or pleasing or lovely or peaceful or loving or joyful (attributes of God’s character), is a reflection of God’s presence.

Sunshine on my skin has taken on a whole new meaning. Birdsong stops me in my tracks. A budding flower makes me sigh with wonder at something God made for no reason other than pure artistry. Or, maybe (heart be still), He created that flower because way back when the seed was released and blown by the wind to this spot on this path it was because He knew I would be walking this way at this exact moment.

Thank You, Lord! How thoughtful! Thank You for loving me with such a simple, uncomplicated, no-strings-attached kind of love!

Once my eyes are opened to everything good that surrounds me I want to act like a hill or a tree, leaping and clapping and dancing and singing. These things…gentle spring rain, children’s laughter, a kind word, a cool breeze, a friend’s reassuring touch…cause my heart to respond with abandoned gratitude as I recognize how my Creator has placed reminders of Himself all around me, all the time, everywhere I look.

It’s as if He is saying, now that I’m listening, ‘I knew you would love the way the sun light dances on water, so I designed ripples in that creek. Oh yes, and I knew you would not be able to resist putting your cheek against that filly’s muzzle, so I made it extra soft. By the way, beloved daughter, don’t you just love warm juicy strawberries straight from the garden?’

Oh, God loves us so much! He has filled the earth with countless examples of His goodness, all of which communicate some aspect of Himself. He wants us to know Him. He wants us to reach out, just like the trees, and receive His love unreservedly, unashamedly, without asking if we are worthy or not.

When we are looking at the good things, recognizing them for the gifts they are, then it’s difficult to look at anything else. It’s easy to be grateful, filled with thanksgiving, lifting our voices to praise Him, skipping along with joy and clapping our hands in delight.

Try it sometime. It will change your life.

“Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the LORD fills the whole earth…” (Num. 14:21)

“Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all the things which fill it; let the field be exultant, and all that is in it! Then shall all the trees of the wood sing for joy before the Lord…” (Psalm 96:11-13)

“For ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature and attributes, that is, His eternal power and divinity, have been made intelligible and clearly discernible in and through the things that have been made (His handiworks).” (Rom. 1:20, Amplified)

Laurie Gross