What We Really Need by Libby Johnson

Psalm 19:1-3 “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.”

 I started 2023 with 2 goals: read more books than last year, and spend more time outdoors than I did last year. I knew reading more books wouldn’t be a problem; I’ve always been a bookworm and have expendable time with which to read books. But, as someone who spends most of her days working in an office, I was woefully pessimistic about getting some more Vitamin D.

This past winter was brutal. I hate the cold and I hate slipping around on the sidewalk, but still, I made myself get outside for a walk nearly every day. As the snow began to melt and my tennis shoes absorbed the runoff from the massive snow fortress surrounding Prairie Elementary, I dreamed of even warmer, brighter days. But once these long-awaited days arrived, I realized that I didn’t enjoy my walks that much more when it was warm out compared to when it was cold. As I’ve looked back on the past nine months, I’ve realized that just being outdoors clears my mind, soul, and body. I simply feel good when I’m outside.

And so, I’ve come to the entirely-not-earth-shattering conclusion that God has presented us with such a great remedy to the worries of life by giving us the created world through which we can experience him and his peace all the more. The created world offers a complex simplicity, a world teeming with life that is a balm on the worried mind and anxious heart. I’ve spent many days this past summer crippled by my own thoughts and anxieties, and yet have found the most relief and clarity of mind when communing with God in creation.

What we really need is not more numbing tasks to keep our anxious minds busy nor technology to solve our problems for us, but more time marveling in awe and wonder at our God who offers us overwhelming peace if we simply accept it. It is my prayer for you and I this week, that we would be still long enough to let God speak to us through the whipping winds and rustling leaves; that we would know that the heavens that declare the glory of God are calling us to rest in their same maker, the Creator God.