Embracing Nature’s Healing Power

Embracing Nature’s Healing Power

As I connect with others who have lost loved ones to addiction, I am continually struck by how much our loved ones shared in common. Nearly all of them possessed a profound and unique love for nature. Lexi, in particular, found deep joy in being immersed in God’s creation — from the majestic mountains of Colorado to the winding nature trails near our home in Wichita. She often spoke of her dream to help people in recovery, not in a sterile, lifeless room, but gathered together outdoors, beneath the shade of a tree, enveloped by the beauty and peace of nature.

Psalm 19:1–2 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.”

Recently, these verses struck me in a new way. Because sometimes I doubt.

Sometimes I doubt what I’m doing, why I’m living, and what my purpose is. If God is even real. Maybe I’m just going through the motions. Maybe death is just random, and my daughter is gone, and I am left with nothing but hurt from missing her and thinking about what could have been. Maybe this whole life is pointless.

And then I go on a walk.

How can there be so many different types of trees just around the small pond in my neighborhood? Pine trees with poky needles, willows with their long droopy branches, tall maples, sturdy oaks. Then I see the “Feathers” family — the big black and white duck with his troupe of followers — waddling to their favorite spot near the pond. I watch the wind ripple the water, and the shimmery reflection of the sky and clouds mirrored in its silvery surface. On the sidewalk in front of me, a swarm of tiny ants zigzags around the upturned shell of a dead cicada. Then I notice an unexpected burst of scarlet purple blooms on a nearby bush that I hadn’t seen before. “Day to day pours out speech.” All of nature sings out the stunning and creative handiwork of God. The scene that is before me, which I often take for granted, is so fascinating. Everything around me is instinctively growing, moving, living, and breathing, empowered by its Creator.

Romans 1:20 comes to mind. “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.”

Finding God in Nature

Sometimes God speaks to us through Scripture, but other times He speaks even more emphatically in the great outdoors. It’s like He’s saying, Look at me! Here I am all around you! How can you doubt my existence? Look at my incredible handiwork! I am speaking to you without words. Just open your eyes and feast on my artwork! Everything around us is designed with such careful detail — evidence of God’s existence and his loving care.

And the night brings even more evidence of God. Just look up at the night sky! Humans have not even scratched the surface when it comes to space exploration. As a matter of fact, the more we learn, the more we realize how little we know. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, is composed of billions of stars, each millions of light-years away, but it is just a blip in the entire universe. The nearest neighboring galaxy, Andromeda, is 2,500,000 light-years away. Since one light year alone is six trillion miles, that’s a pretty long way! And the universe is filled with billions of these galaxies, all made up of millions and billions of stars.

When the psalmist says, “...night to night reveals knowledge,” he is making the understatement of the century! It is truly impossible to begin to fathom the depth of the knowledge he refers to. It is unthinkable, unimaginable.

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With hope,

Rhonda Kemp, Laci’s Mom