What a Wonderful World — A LifeWords Devotion

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
    Tell me, if you understand.
Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
    Who stretched a measuring line across it?
On what were its footings set,
    or who laid its cornerstone—
while the morning stars sang together
    and all the angels shouted for joy? (NIV)

There is a wonderful passage in the Narnia chronicles of C.S. Lewis that has the lion Aslan singing our world into being. Our passage evokes similar images. When God made the world, it seems it was not just an act of divine power but an expression of sheer joy.

How sad to be so bogged down in debates about how it all came into being and miss out on the fact that however it all happened, God enjoyed doing it. Scientists or theologians can explore the details but let’s not forget that this was an act of sheer love on the part of God. He wanted to make our world and to make us to inhabit it. No one forced him to do so.

And when he made our world, he didn’t work to a strict budget or time scale. He threw everything into it. He has created a world where there are countless delights and intricacies. God wasn’t just working towards some bare minimum, he was not being purely functional. He didn’t have to make rainbows so colourful or butterflies so beautiful. It seems he just loved being extravagant.

We don’t need reminding of the horrors and ugliness that pervades our world. But always remember that there is still wonder in our world, still beauty and order behind the human inspired ugliness and chaos. We might do our worst in spoiling our world, but behind and beyond it all, God did his best and called it good.

Blessings

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David