Last evening, we were once again faced with another thunder storm. Thankfully however, this one was more off in the distance than close up, and only lasted a short time...less than half an hour. The weather people had been calling for thunder showers for the evening, to end before midnight. I was on guard. As I said in the previous post, I really dislike them.
What struck me last evening was the brightness in nature. It was getting dark with the storm clouds moving in, the light gray clouds upon the darker one moving slowly. One could tell the storm was moving in just by those clouds. It looked dark and foreboding.
I noticed the Little Leaf Linden treen in our backyard that has grown tremendously since being planted over twenty years ago. The branches now hang down over the patio in a couple of areas. We have a bird feeder set up in the tree, the kind used to feed finches. It is a long cylindar feeder with three sets of two perches (three perches on each side) where the finches hang from upside down to poke at the seed through tiny holes below the perches. In this tree, a couple of branches over from the feeder, was a small gold finch. It's colour was stunningly bright and bold against the backdrop of the tree. It was a male, as it was bright yellow (females are not nearly that yellow, and often times don't have much yellow colour to them). The leaves on the tree were an almost bright bold green, and the branches cutting through the foliage were a dark brown, almost black in colour. All of these things together was such an awesome to behold.
As I look out the back window now, it is the same scene as last evening (including a gold finch who is at the feeder feasting) but it is different. It has returned to it's normal colouring and doesn't strike me in the same way. It is still a beautiful tree with pretty birds on the branches, but it just doesn't strike me the way it did before the storm. However, both the tree and the birds are creations belonging to God and He has done a marvelous job on them both.
I am thankful that I have eyes to see and that I was able to feast in the beauty of the contrasting colours last evening. It was as though the tree and bird were illuminated from inside, the light accenting the outer beauty. The bright and bold colours agains the dark forboding clouds and incoming storm was such a wonder to behold. I am thankful that I was able to witness this as though I were being reminded that God is in control and is the creator of all things. He was in control of the storm, He is powerful. He created nature, He is creative. He gave me eyes to see, He made me in His image.
Thank you Lord for Your creation, for the beauty that it is. Thank You for sight and the ability to see such a wide range of colours, bright and dark. Thank You that You are all powerful and in control of all things, including thunder storms. Thank You for creating me in Your image.
