Beauty Beneath the Surface (Friday Devotional)

“Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry.”

- Psalm 146:5-7

Yesterday morning, I did a little experiment. I approached my one-year old son with two coins, one in each hand, and asked him to pick one. In my left hand I held a grimy dime, the kind long ago doomed to a life spent between couch cushions and under the passenger’s seat, the kind coated in every manner of dust, dirt, and dried gum. In the other hand I had a shiny new penny—bigger, brighter, and cleaner than the dime.

From the way I’ve framed it, you can guess which he chose—the tiny, dirty dime didn’t stand a chance against the penny. My son’s only way to judge the worth of the two coins was based on their appearances—and while what he chose was bigger and shinier, it wasn’t actually better.

When it comes to the way we value God’s creation, we make the same mistake as my son, glorifying that which amazes us and ignoring that which does not. We stare up at the soaring heights of Mount Everest, but avoid eye contact with the homeless man begging for food. We flip through photograph after photograph of the constellations, but change the channel when a news report about refugees comes on. We fear for endangered species in the rainforest, but our hearts harden when our own neighbors tell us they feel unsafe.

In Psalm 146, the psalmist does something fascinating with this idea. In verses 5 and 6, he extols God for the glories of His creation, “heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them.” One’s mind immediately goes to the world’s natural wonders—but then the psalmist goes another direction. In the next verse—before the stanza ends, almost as though he hasn’t even taken a breath yet—he then praises God because He “executes justice for the oppressed” and “gives food to the hungry.”

The psalmist understood something we too often forget—that while the mountains and rivers and streams are glorious creations indeed, so are people, even people broken by hard times or bad decisions. You can admire the beauty of the natural world, but if you do so while ignoring or denigrating your fellow man, then you’ve missed the point. When we talk about “the glory of God’s creation,” we must never forget: people are not only a part of that creation, but the only part God created in His image.

It’s easy and instinctual to value God’s creations according to how much they impress us. But the way of Jesus is to look instead through the lens of mercy, loving people even when their worthiness is suspect. When you step outside today to admire God’s creation, do so with fresh eyes, looking for beauty in the blue sky, but also in the burdened soul.