God's healing power runs all through nature. If a tree is cut, if a human being is wounded or breaks a bone, nature begins at once to repair the injury. Even before the need exists, the healing agencies are ready, and as soon as a part is wounded, every energy focuses on the work of restoration.
So it is in the spiritual realm. Before sin created the need, God provided the remedy. Every soul who yields to temptation is wounded by the adversary, but whenever there is sin, there is the Savior. It is Christ's work "to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, ... to set at liberty those who are oppressed." Luke 4:18.
In this work we are to cooperate. "If anyone is detected in a transgression ... restore such a one." Galatians 6:1, NRSV. The word here translated "restore" means to put in joint, as a dislocated bone. How appropriate the figure! People who fall into error or sin are thrown out of relation to everything about them. They may realize their error and be filled with remorse, but they cannot recover themselves. They are confused and perplexed. They are to be reclaimed, healed, re-established. "You who have received the Spirit should restore" them. Only the love that flows from the heart of Christ can heal. Only a person in whom that love flows, even as the sap in the tree or the blood in the body, can restore the wounded soul.
Love's agencies have wonderful power, for they are divine. The soft answer that "turns away wrath," the love that "suffers long and is kind," the charity that "will cover a multitude of sins" (Proverbs 15:1; 1 Corinthians 13:4; 1 Peter 4:8)--if we would learn the lesson, our lives would be gifted with power for healing. Life would be transformed, and the earth would become a likeness and foretaste of heaven!
All Can Understand Nature's Lessons
These precious lessons may be taught so simply as to be understood even by little children. The heart of the child is tender and easily impressed, and when we who are older become "as little children" (Matthew 18:3), when we learn the simplicity, gentleness, and tender love of the Savior, we shall not find it difficult to touch the hearts of the little ones and teach them love's ministry of healing.
Perfection exists in the least as well as in the greatest works of God. The hand that hung the worlds in space is the hand that fashions the flowers of the field. Examine under the microscope the smallest and most common of wayside blossoms, and note the exquisite beauty and completeness in all its parts. The most common tasks, performed with loving faithfulness, are beautiful in God's sight. Conscientious attention to little things will make us workers together with Him and win His commendation.
As the bow in the cloud results from the union of sunshine and shower, so the bow above God's throne represents the union of His mercy and His justice. To the sinful but repentant soul God says, Live, for "I have found a ransom." Job 33:24. "The mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord who has mercy on you." Isaiah 54:10.
The Message of the Stars and Nature
The stars also have a message of good cheer for every human being. In those hours that come to all, when obstacles seem insurmountable and life's aims impossible to achieve, courage and steadfastness can be found in that lesson which God counsels us to learn from the stars in their untroubled course. "Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things, who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, by the greatness of His might and the strength of His power; not one is missing." Isaiah 40:26.
The palm tree, beaten by the scorching sun and the fierce sandstorm, stands green and fruitful in the midst of the desert. Its roots are fed by living springs. Its crown of green is seen afar over the parched, desolate plain, and the traveler, ready to die, urges his failing steps to the cool shade and life-giving water.
The tree of the desert is a symbol of what God means the life of His children to be. They are to guide weary souls, ready to perish in the desert of sin, to the living water. They are to point lost men and women to Him who gives the invitation, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me, and drink." John 7:37.
A wide, deep river that serves as a highway for the traffic of nations, is valued as a worldwide benefit. But what of the little rills that help to form this giant stream? Without them, the river would disappear. Upon them its very existence depends. So men and women who are called to lead in some great work are honored as if its success were due to them alone. But that success required the faithful cooperation of humble workers almost without number--people of whom the world knows nothing. Service without recognition is the lot of most of the world's workers. Many are filled with discontent and feel that life is wasted. But the little rill that makes its noiseless way through grove and meadow is as useful in its way as the broad river. And in contributing to the river's life, it helps achieve that which it could never accomplish alone.
This lesson is needed by many. Talent is too much idolized, and station too much coveted. Many people will do nothing unless they are recognized as leaders. Too many must receive praise or they have no interest in the work. We need to learn faithfulness in making the utmost use of the powers and opportunities we have, and contentment in the lot to which Heaven assigns us.
A Lesson of Trust
"Now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; and the birds of the air, and they will tell you: ... and the fish of the sea will explain to you." "Go to the ant; ... consider her ways." Job 12:7, 8; Proverbs 6:6.
We are not merely to tell our children about these creatures of God, the animals themselves are to be their teachers. Ants teach lessons of patient industry, of perseverance in surmounting obstacles, of providence for the future. Birds teach the lesson of trust. Our heavenly Father provides for them, but they must gather food, build nests, and rear their young. Every moment enemies seek to destroy them, yet they go about their work cheerily! Their little songs are full of joy!
God sends springs of water to run among the hills where the birds live and "sing among the branches." Psalm 104:12. All the creatures of the woods and hills are part of His great household. He opens His hand and satisfies "the desire of every living thing." Psalm 145:16.
The eagle of the Alps is sometimes beaten down by the tempest into the narrow defiles of the mountains. Storm clouds shut in this mighty bird of the forest, their dark masses separating her from the sunny heights where she has made her home. Her efforts to escape seem fruitless. She dashes to and fro, beating the air with her strong wings and waking the mountain echoes with her cries. At length, with a note of triumph, she darts upward, and, piercing the clouds, is once more in the clear sunlight, with the darkness and tempest far beneath.
So we may be surrounded with difficulties, discouragement, and darkness. Falsehood, calamity, injustice, shut us in. There are clouds that we cannot dispel. In vain we battle with circumstances. There is but one way of escape. Beyond the clouds God's light is shining. Into the sunlight of His presence we may rise on the wings of faith.
Many are the lessons that may be drawn from nature: for example, self-reliance, from the tree that, growing alone on plain or mountainside, strikes down its roots deep into the earth, and in its rugged strength defies the tempest; the power of early influence, from the gnarled, shapeless trunk, bent as a sapling, to which no earthly power can afterward restore its lost symmetry; the secret of a holy life, from the water lily, that, on the bosom of some slimy pool, surrounded by weeds and rubbish, strikes down its channeled stem to the pure sands beneath, and, drawing thence its life, displays its fragrant blossoms in spotless purity.
Thus while the children and youth gain a knowledge of facts from teachers and textbooks, let them learn to draw lessons and discern truth for themselves. In their gardening, question them as to what they learn from the care of their plants. As they look on a beautiful landscape, ask them why God clothed the fields and woods with such lovely and varied hues. Why was not all a somber brown? When they gather flowers, lead them to think why He saved for us the beauty of these wanderers from Eden. Teach them to notice the evidences in nature of God's thought for us, the wonderful adaptation of all things to our need and happiness.
Many illustrations from nature are used by the Bible writers, and as we observe the things of the natural world, we shall be enabled, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to understand more fully the lessons of God's Word. It is thus that nature becomes a key to the treasure house of the Word.
Children should be encouraged to search out in nature the objects that illustrate Bible teachings, and to trace in the Bible the lessons drawn from nature. In this way they may learn to see Him in tree and vine, in lily and rose, in sun and star. They may learn to hear His voice in the song of birds, in the sighing of the trees, in the rolling thunder, and in the music of the sea. Every object in nature will repeat to them His precious lessons.
To those who thus acquaint themselves with Christ, the earth will never again be a lonely and desolate place. It will be their Father's house, filled with the presence of Him who once walked on earth.