The forties of Isaiah are my muse recently. I read and think and pray their verses, ingesting their lessons and admonitions. Today I learn about secret places:
For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited): I am the Lord, and there is none else. I have not spoken in secret, in some dark land, I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, Seek Me in a Waste Place. I, the Lord, speak righteousness, declaring things that are upright!I think sometimes I get it backwards, thinking that because the earth was made first, I was created for it. I think sometimes that I was created as an accessory to it, embellishment on an already perfect ensemble. I think sometimes that I, along with the rest of our concerned citizens, abiders of the earth, get so concerned with keeping my outfit clean, that I forget that the outfit was made to be worn by a person.
Made to be worn by me.
And so this year, as I throw back my head and open my windows, welcoming the Spring, I am acutely aware that I was not formed for the earth, the earth was formed for me. That snow left lying in wooded areas teaches me about the secret places of my heart, where winter is really sin. That green pointed shoots of life poking from the moist earth among dead leaves shows me that even though I'm not perfect yet, growth is still happening. That the sound of spring's wind teaches me that sometimes my soul just needs to pause and breathe. That the rushing wild rivers will soon settle into their normal patterns and flows, and so will the things that feel wild in my heart too.
But mostly, that creation cries out His Name, His Fingerprints, His Artistry , and His Intention, so that we, the best creation He saved for last, might know just how much He loves us.
