Unexpected Beauty & Marvel

 By: Joanne Viola

 There are days when God shows up in ways that we did not expect and surely did not deserve. On those days, He leaves us breathless, our hearts full of emotion and our mouths filled with praise.

Some days we lay big requests before Him. They are big in our estimation because we are human, and limited and finite. We try to keep our focus on the truth that He is God, therefore bigger than we can conceive, able to do more than we think, and He has no limits. None. Some days are easier than others to keep the focus.

He knows how difficult it is some days to maintain the right perspective of Him. He is willing to help us by showing up unexpectedly.

Enter – the mushrooms …

Several years ago, they were growing underneath our pine tree. I had not planted them. They were not supposed to be growing there. They were utterly beautiful because they were different than one would expect.

They were not the mushrooms like one would buy in a supermarket. They were not brown. They were beautiful shades of orange and yellow. They were different sizes. Amazingly, they were different shapes.

When I went under the tree to view them up close, I felt like I was entering into a fantasy world like one might find in a movie. They were stunning.

They had grown where they would be least expected. Their beauty shouted of a Creator who would place them there to create awe and marvel.

In our wilderness, God promises us He is at wor

“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” 
(Isaiah 43:18-19, NIV)

In those very times and areas of our lives when we feel like we are in the middle of nothingness and waste, He is causing something to happen. From the barrenness, He is forcing something to spring up. He makes a way where there seemed to be no way. He creates streams where there was drought.

Scripture tells us that the Spirit will be poured out on us and: 

“… the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest.”
(Isaiah 32:15, NIV)

He causes continued growth and fruit to come forth in our lives. It’s the promise He gives to us, His children.

“Blind eyes will be opened, deaf ears unstopped, Lame men and women will leap like deer, the voiceless break into song. Springs of water will burst out in the wilderness, streams flow in the desert.”
(Isaiah 35:5, MSG)

What is He telling us?

That which we were not expecting, not even looking for will happen.

The blind will see

The deaf hear

The lame walk

The voiceless will sing

Water will spring forth where there was no water

Streams will flow in the desert.

It’s kind of like my mushroom experience. We will find beauty where we least expected. We will find growth where there should be none. We will bear fruit in our lives when we did not plant. When there seems to be no way, He will make the way.

Why does He do this for us?

“I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen,
the people I formed for Myself that they may proclaim my praise.”
(Isaiah 43:20, 21 NIV)

Look for the mushrooms, the unexpected occurrences in life. And when you find them? Be sure to give Him the praise He alone is so deserving to receive.

What unexpected beauty have you observed lately? Where did God show up and cause you to marvel?

 

Photos by Joanne Viola