WE NEED NATURE

It seems to me these days, that so many people are intimidated by the outdoors.

Oh they go on hikes- of course- the man made paths taking you from short destinations to another, so that one may view a waterfall or cave. They follow the map, they do shorter trails, they go to "national parks". But when you ask them to trailblaze they will often complain about the weeds, the bush, the snakes. When you tell them to explore, they will ask you for the map. They hesitate to go in the cave if there's no guide. They won't climb the waterfall because they are afraid. And they only swim in the ocean when it's warm and at the right times.

What I'm saying is, in general, our generation and the generations after us are becoming more and more afraid of nature. Less and less prepared to survive outside. We hate the cold, the mosquitos bother us, and we would rather camp in a cabin or hotel then spend a night in a tent.

And you may be saying, yes but why does this matter?

It matters because it's hurting our relationship to God and others.

It matters because nature proclaims the glory of God. The Word says that "through Him all things were made; that Has been made." We can learn about Christ through every single aspect of creation.

Job 12:7-10 "Ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky and they will tell you, speak to the earth, or let the fish of the sea inform you, Which of these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?"

In nature we are taught who Christ is by getting to meet the Creator. We learn that God is not a weak God, not passive, but powerful; full of beauty, detail, plan.

We come face to face with Christ realizing our smallness in comparison to Him. We are reminded that we are not the center of the universe. We have no control on the ocean or tides. When we climb the mountains we realize we are tired and the journey to God takes endurance. Nature teaches us, that the world is a lie, when it tells us "it's all about me". Because nature is about Christ.

We are a technology generation. We use electricity to create balance in our homes with temperatures. We love control. We control our environments, our choice of careers, our food, and we try to control our lives. And when we are inside, we have quite a bit of control, quite a bit of so called "safety".

But when you go wild, when you go outdoors, when you go rugged, it's amazing.. it's scary, it's real because you lose control! And it's beautiful- it's authentic- it's real. You meet a real God, a wild God, you have the opportunity to know Him in a realer way. And you learn that He's not contained by the limits of your expectations, and the rules you think you have to follow, you learn that He is so much bigger than you. And that you are so much smaller than you ever realized.

Nature is crazy; it's amazing. And I think Satan loves it when we opt out, when we take the safe path more traveled, when we are too busy working in our technology filled, comfortable, controlled lives... but sometimes we have to schedule ourselves an adventure. We have to get out there again. Back out into nature, back into the wild- so that we can be reminded who Christ is.

Don't be intimidated by nature. Your life is worth risking sometimes to find something truly good, truly real. Just get out there and find an adventure that's worth living for- find God.