"The more I study science, the more I believe in God." -Albert Einstein
While Albert Einstein was not what anyone would consider a devout Christian, he recognized a creator and rightfully called Him God. There is evidence all around us that all points back to our creator; we only need to take the time to recognize Him.
I want to take a moment to express that this post is going to be more poetic than literal. I acknowledge God as the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit-Separate entities in one personhood. He is Father and Son and Holy Spirit at the same time, at all times. Yet They are each unique and different from each other. It is one of the great mysteries of who God is. I am not a pluralist or a universalist- but I see God’s work, craftmanship, direction, and plan throughout everything in the universe. This post isn’t meant to imply that everything is God. This post is meant to highlight where you can notice God’s work and influence.
To most people, their minds immediately go to the natural world. It is what God designed first, after all. The Genesis account speaks of God designing and breathing life into all creation. The rocks and earth beneath your feet were pieced together molecule by molecule; mineral by mineral; filled with the richness of organic matter and enough nutrients to sustain life. God formed every blade of grass. He chose to make Chlorophyll green. He arranged every petal on every flower and painted them a rainbow of glory. Ring by ring, layer by layer, He built up the trees until they tower above us. I dare you to stand in the Sequoias and tell me there is no God.
In the fathoms of the deep, creatures lurk that we have never seen. He gave light to those depths with bioluminescence; and even for these cryptids, God provides.
He made animals with anatomies perfectly built to be light, aerodynamic, and powerful enough to sustain flight. The Bombardier Beetle creates its combustible defense mechanism by combining two liquids that are held separately while in the beetle’s body. If those substances were to ever combine prematurely, the beetle would incinerate itself. The giraffe has a perfectly designed circulatory system built to be able to pump enough blood to its brain. Any flaw in that system, and the giraffe would have never been able to take its first breath. The duck can warm its own blood using a parallel vascular system. They can swim in half-frozen ponds and barely feel the cold.
God paints every butterfly wing with his finger. He watercolors every sunset. He placed the sun at the exact and perfect distance from the earth to sustain life without destroying us. He put every star in the sky and He knows them by name (Psalm 147:4). He created our atmosphere to contain the oxygen we need and to defend us from the rays of the sun.
He built the universe atom by atom, and He did it all with us in mind. It is by his willpower that he holds it all together. If God desired, he could undo my cells with merely a thought, and I’d become vapor in the wind. His breath is the air I breathe.
All of this by itself points to God in the most obvious of ways, but what if we live somewhere where we don’t have forests and rivers to remind us of our savior? What if we live somewhere where there’s so much light pollution, it blots out the stars? What if we don’t even have gardens and our thumb is as black as the compost we’re not making because we don’t have the space? What do we do then? Is God absent from our glimmers? Or is he just a bit harder to find?
I See God In Everyday Life
I see God in a Saturday morning, as the rays of light filter through my blinds and I can awaken from my own internal clock rather than the scream of an alarm. I see God in family dinners, adventures to the bowling alley, and trips to get frozen custard. God is in the framework of my home, providing me shelter and protection from the elements. I find Him in the provision of my favorite meals and the clean water I drink.
I see God in each craft project I’ve been blessed with the skills to make. I see Him in the way my hands know what to do as they shape and mold, stitch and sew, paint and color, saw and nail. I see God in the way my silly kitties love me, and in the companionship they bring. Every breath I take, every step I make, every beat of my heart proclaims that God exists and He allows me to exist too.
Every person in my life who has poured into me is the hands and feet of God. My husband is a gift, and his service to our family mirrors God’s sacrifices and provision for us. God blessed me with amazing, loving parents, and with wonderful, generous in-laws. My siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews–each a treasure God bestowed upon the Earth.
God is in my husband’s blue eyes. God is in the rose gold of my niece’s hair. God is in the gentle planes of my mother’s face. God is in the strength of my father’s hands.
I praise God because I can run, jump, sing, shout, cry, and laugh. I praise God because I have a home that needs chores to maintain it; because I have a spouse I can provide for and pets to take care of. I praise God for giving me purpose and my life meaning.
He is beauty and creativity. He is laughter and love. He is discipline and justice. He is power and peace. He is the solution to every problem. He breaks the chains that bind us. He builds the life around us. He is our fire escape. He is our stronghold. He is provision and sustainability. He is our future. God’s work is everywhere all around us. We need only to take the time to see it.
Through the Business of Life
We are in an all-out sprint through life, trying to forge our own path and focusing on control. God is in the blessings we can bestow to others and we are missing it. Why can’t we see the joy in problem-solving, because we have a brain that functions and a soul that makes us care? Why does our situation have to be perfect in order for us to both see and love God? Why is our love conditional? Why is our relationship with God only important when it serves us? God built the fabric of our reality, can we not trust Him to manage it well?
I read a quote the other day by C.S. Lewis that says, “We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us; we are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.” When we were becoming, from children to adults, our legs and arms would cramp and throb from the growing pains. When you begin a sport, your muscles will rip and burn and your lungs will ache and lactic acid will make it difficult to walk. Pain is a part of it. Pain is a part of life. In order to be the magnificence that God has planned, we must ache and burn and cramp and grow.
God is in the pain.
“If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness,” The Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians, 11:30. For when we are weak, God is strong (2 Corinthians 12:9). When we are at our lowest, we are allowed to showcase how much God will show up for us. The world is watching and they’ll get to see how God took an impossible situation and made it perfect. Our testimonies are not our own–they’re God’s.
God is as much a master of death as he is of life. We will not die unless God allows it. We will either become a miracle or a life lesson. If I am to die a dramatic death or if I am to survive a tragedy, I can trust God will have it impact someone else’s growth. I am the vessel through which God moves.
God Wrote a Book
God is in the pages of the Bible. His voice is in each word we read. God provides instructions and comfort, warnings and blessings, lessons and promises. God is not a silent God. He speaks to us through scripture and music. He is the Holy Spirit moving in our souls. He’s in the tears we cry, the silent scream, the overwhelming joy, and the all-consuming compassion. He’s in the impulse to pray for someone. He’s in the refusal to let the new kid sit alone. He’s in the willingness to serve and he’s in the sacrifices we make. God is in every right thing we do. God is in the humility of an apology. God is in the respect we give to authority.
We need to be careful to give credit where credit is due. Our free will is a gift from God, yet God is in our obedience to His will. God gives us a choice to respond to Him, and his whispers allow us to respond.
When we allow ourselves to see God in every facet of our life, it’s impossible not to change. We know when we’re living in constant prayer with Him when we can wake up and imagine Jesus sitting on the edge of our bed, wishing us a good morning. He’s in the passenger’s seat of the car as we drive to work. He’s hanging out at your desk–every day is a Bring-Jesus-to-Work-Day. He’s with you at your table at lunch and he’s with you once you’re home and preparing dinner. He’s helping you teach your kids their homework. We don’t have to spend every moment of our life with our heads bowed, eyes closed, hands folded, praying a narrative to Jesus. Noticing him in your life is where the “magic” happens.
If you’ve been struggling to feel close to God lately, I encourage you to slow down and notice him. God is not the problem. He hasn’t gone anywhere, your attention has. You don’t need to manifest God with special music and a special atmosphere with special people in special outfits. God can’t be manifested. It’d be like inviting your mom over for dinner. The entire time she’s there, you’re waving flags and calling out her name a million times and repeating like a broken record that she’s welcome to come have dinner with you. It’s silly when you think of it like that, isn’t it? God’s the one who’s invited you to dinner, you just need to show up, stay off your phone, and actually talk to Him.
You can talk to God anytime, anywhere. He’s omniscient, meaning he knows everything. He’s omnipresent, meaning he’s everywhere. He’s omnipotent, meaning he’s all-powerful. He can literally read your mind and hear your thoughts. He lives inside you, so he feels what you feel. Did you know that the devil can’t read your mind? He’s not omniscient. You can’t rebuke the devil with your thoughts, you have to use your words. But God can hear your thoughts, so he hears your silent prayers. He hears your verbal prayers. He even prays with you, as the Holy Spirit guides our hearts and souls. We don’t need to manifest an omnipresent God.
It’s the Christmas season now, and It’s so easy to forget to notice Him. God tends to get lost from our focus between baking, decorating, shopping, activities, Hallmark Movies, craft projects, traveling, and family drama. All the while, commercialized Christmas, with Santa, Rudolf, and Frosty seem to be everywhere we look. Why is it that we celebrate our savior’s birth with all the hyperconsumerism Jesus warned us about? How would He want his birthday to actually be celebrated?
I am personally trying to slow down this Christmas season and turn my attention to the manger. The Nativity has shown up more prominently in my life this year, and with it, a sense of calm and warmth. That’s my savior’s origin story. I think we tend to forget about the importance of that.
It’s like getting a bunch of Facebook posts on your feed remembering the events of 9/11. It’s like getting those memorial posts and you weren’t even alive when 9/11 happened. It’s that sense of “Oh yeah, that important thing happened. We shouldn’t forget that. Mmm yes. Jesus. Where’s my eggnog?” People see and hear about the Nativity, nod their heads, acknowledge that it’s important, maybe attend a Christmas Eve service–heck, they may even throw up a Nativity in their house, just so they can feel like the world can see they’re a Christ-follower. But then once they feel like they’ve satisfied their Christianly duty of thinking about the Nativity, their focus returns to Buddy the Elf and a fat man in a red coat.
Dear readers, God became a baby for us. If that wasn’t humble enough, his birth was likely shamed by his mother’s community. His parents were probably shunned and scandalized and whispers followed them through the streets. Mary’s life was on the line, as the punishment for premarital relations was stoning, as the religious officials of the time didn’t understand God’s plan.
I am struck by Mary’s bravery. We think about her purity and her goodness and how God chose her, but Mary had to have been tough as iron. What kind of woman would walk willingly into a scenario that, by all appearances, would paint her with a scarlet letter? What kind of woman would accept the responsibility of raising God as a man? What kind of woman would march faithfully into her future, knowing she will never have a normal life?
What kind of woman raises a man, knowing one day, he’ll be killed?
Then there’s Joseph. Joseph, who stood by his beloved when the world turned against them. Joseph, who loved his wife, protected his wife, provided for his wife, and defended her from wrath. Joseph, who would be the human father of our Lord and Savior, tried to be the leader and the head of the house while knowing that his son out-ranked him in every way. Joseph, who sheltered his family, and found a safe place for Mary to give birth when humanity failed them.
Joseph, who raised a child into a man knowing one day, he’d be killed.
These are the things my focus keeps returning to this season. Close your eyes and try to picture it–to really imagine what it must have been like for them. Put yourself in their shoes. It’s okay if you cry. I did.
If you are looking for more ways to focus on God this Christmas season, here are some activities you can try to help keep your eyes on Him.
- Nativity reading plans. There are bunches of apps and hard-copy devotionals out there that focus on the Christmas story. I like using the Logos app. I can find Bible reading plans that are as extensive or as simple as I desire.
- Ditch the Santas and celebrate Traditional Advent instead:
- Light an Advent wreath:
- A traditional Advent wreath has four candles representing the four weeks of Advent. The candles are lit each night of Advent.
- Keep an Advent Calendar
- Open one door, or burn one section of the candle on the calendar each day leading up to Christmas Eve. You can find some really cute, Christian-themed Advent Calendars on Amazon that all point to Jesus.
- Daily prayer:
- Praying daily is always encouraged, but for Advent, you can pray a special Advent prayer at dinner time.
- Fasting
- Fast from noise, franticness, and social media to make space for Jesus
- Nativity Set
- Add to your Nativity set day by day rather than setting it out all at once.
- Start a Jesse Tree
- The Jesse Tree is a time-honored Advent tradition that traces the Old Testament lineage of Jesus through images and symbols.
- The idea of a Jesse tree stems from a prophecy in the Book of Isaiah: “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse, from his roots a branch will bear fruit.” (Isaiah 11:1)
- Jesse was the father of David, one of Israel’s greatest kings. When David died, God’s people waited for another king to emerge from his family line. Many generations later, Jesus was born.
- The 19 Jesse Tree symbols represent key biblical figures and events leading up to the birth of Jesus.
- Light an Advent wreath:
- Instead of buying more and more Christmas decorations every year, adding to the hyperconsumerism and commercialism of Christmas, why don’t you make your own?
- Dehydrate citrus slices and string them onto a garland
- Make cinnamon dough ornaments
- Cut out paper snowflakes
- Forage for pine cones and evergreen branches
- Make your own wreaths with real plants
- Crystalize your creations using borax solution for a frosted effect (not advised for Paper snowflakes, use pipe cleaners instead.)
- Attend a Christmas pageant
- Whether your church, your kids’ school, or a church you’ve never been to before is putting on the production, there’s just something about seeing kids reenact the Nativity that just brings a little sweetness to the season.
- Watch movies and/or plays about the Nativity
- The Nativity Story 2005 Film
- Miracle of Christmas by Sight and Sound Theater
- available in Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Branson, Missouri; or Sight and Sound Streaming Service
- Chasing the Star 2017 Film
- Veggie Tales Christmas Classics
- Journey to Bethlehem 2023 Film
- Star 2017 Film
- A Charlie Brown Christmas 1965 Film
- The Best Christmas Pageant Ever 2024 Film
- Read books about the Nativity
- The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
- Jesus Listens for Advent and Christmas: Prayers for the Season by Sarah Young
- On the Way to Bethlehem by Rob Fuquay
- Faithful: Christmas Through the Eyes of Joseph by Adam Hamilton
- The Nativity Story by Angela Hunt
- Make a Nativity Playlist. Here’s mine:
- Breath of Heaven by Amy Grant
- Mary Sweet Mary by Selah & Plumb
- Once Upon a Christmas by Selah & Dolly Parton
- Just a Girl by Brandon Heath
- A Baby Changes Everything by Mallary Hope
- Welcome to Our World by Chris Rice
- Beautiful Star of Bethlehem by The Judds
- The Shepherd’s Song by Hearts of Saints
- Star of Wonder by JJ Heller
- How Many Kings by Downhere
- From Heaven to Earth by We Are Messengers
- It Came Upon a Midnight Clear by The Hound + The Fox
- O Little Town of Bethlehem by JJ Heller
- O Come, O Come by MercyMe
- Light of the Stable by Selah
- Wear something like a necklace or bracelet that reminds you of The Nativity. You get to dress up for the holiday in a way that honors God.
- Fill your house with Nativities instead of a million Santas. I love Nativities. I want to collect them and have one in every room of the house if I can.
- Go. To. Church! I cannot emphasize this enough. There’s no better way to focus on God and honor Him than by obeying His will for His believers and creating fellowship with other believers.
Is There Room at Your Inn?
God came into this world as a human in a town that had no room for him, in a place that had no comforts for him, to a world that already hated him. Will you make room for him this year, or will you be like the inn keepers and turn him away? I encourage you to focus on seeing Him in every facet of your life. Notice Him in the glimmers, yes, but make room for him when no one else did. You’ll be glad you did.
I love this Kay. This was a great work you did. God bless you.
Thank you Daddy. I love you! God bless!