Created to Praise

We sat on the back-flap of the boat and it was Christmas Eve. Elliott was sleeping and it was an unusually cool mid-morning. The missionary kids were busy doing their schoolwork, leaving just me and Richard to gaze in wonder.

Pink dolphins at play.

We had seen the pink dolphins before, but mostly fleeting glances. This time there they were, five or six that we could count, leaping and playing in the river for nearly an hour.

Beautiful.

That was over a year ago on a trip to the Jung|e but the memory is clearly etched. Now I sit on my couch Stateside and hear the sound of birds outside my window, announcing Spring is finally making its debut.

And it hits me, though it's not a new thought: All of creation is glorifying God, yet I, in all my faithlessness and fearfulness, worry and fret.

The dolphins play. The birds chirp. The planets rotate. The stars blaze. The grass grows. The clouds pour out. The whole Universe sings His praises by doing what it was created to do.

The me tries to do life by myself.

I tell God I can handle this one. He can wait.

Instead of shouting His praises and waiting on Him, I shout my disbelief and demand He do things my way.

Little me, boldly defying the One who wrote my very DNA. Forgetting my DNA was indeed created for the purpose of praising Him.

I worry and the Holy Spirit whispers:

Look at the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? Can any of you add a single cubit to his height by worrying? (Matthew 6.26-27)

I demand my way and the Holy Spirit whispers:

Where were you when I established the earth?
Tell Me, if you have understanding. (Job 38.4)

For a moment my heart is silenced. Who am I?

And all at once I realize I am tired and the Holy Spirit whispers:
Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light. (Matthew 11.28-30)

You will find rest, He says. My burden is light, He says.

That sounds wonderful, my heart says. And I continue this journey of letting go and letting God.