Something I regularly do is take time in the middle of the day to be alone with the Lord. On a recent walk, I was struck by the beauty of His hand in creation: the trees, the fragrance of frangipani in the breeze, the way colours flow in flowers.
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse.”
Romans 1:20 (BSB)
“How many are Your works, O LORD! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures.” (Psalm 104:24) — “But ask the animals, and they will instruct you; ask the birds of the air, and they will tell you. Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?”
Psalm 104:24; Job 12:7–9 (BSB)
Then my heart was hit with mourning as I saw what mankind has done to my Father’s creation. Concrete, noise, pollution. The beauty of the beach and skyline, destroyed. Everything the flesh touches seems to weigh down and destroy the works of the Lord.
“The earth mourns and withers; the world languishes and fades; the exalted of the earth waste away. The earth is defiled by its people; they have transgressed the laws; they have overstepped the decrees and broken the everlasting covenant.”
Isaiah 24:4–5 (BSB)
“Therefore a curse has consumed the earth, and its inhabitants must bear the guilt; the earth’s dwellers have been burned, and only a few survive. The new wine dries up; the vine withers. All the merrymakers now groan.”
Isaiah 24:6–7 (BSB)
How quick the flesh is to destroy the works of the Spirit. So many times revival fire has been quenched by man’s desire to build and control. Nature shows us we cannot control the works of the Lord. We must sit back, enjoy His doings, and let go of our control. He is the Builder, not us.
Then the Lord brought me back to the frangipani, my favourite tree in the region. Look at the flowers, He said. They grow in bunches, all part of one tree. The tree is Me. The bunches are My people.
Each bunch releases the same fragrance, the aroma of Jesus, the fruit of the Spirit. Each bunch looks different: more flowers or less, bigger or smaller, more yellow or more white. But they all smell the same.
No bunch tries to disqualify the others. Each independently releases its aroma, working with the tree to reveal His beauty. That is what the Body of Christ was always meant to look like. Different branches, different expressions, one tree, one fragrance.
