I recently enjoyed a couple weeks camping in the Denali National Park wilderness area, specifically at Wonder Lake. What a great time! This is my second time to enjoy this spectacular park and my second time camping in the Wonder Lake area.

From my previous trip, I re-connected with several people, many from various parts of the world, who regularly come to this magnificent place. Denali Nat. Park, in my words, is a park for animals that they let people visit. All camping is tightly controlled, quite limited, free from all that “stuff,” e.g., cars, noise, electricity, fires, even showers! As such, it’s a special place to enjoy the vastness and beauty which is there.

Being there as a photographer, and especially in the last week of August and the first week of September, it’s “Fall” unfolding before your eyes. With the time changing something like 7 minutes per day, over a two week period the length of days changes something like 1 1/2 hours! The moose rut becomes full bloom! Colors change daily! Bears are active feeding as winter approaches! Caribou are migrating! It’s truly amazing to be a part of such a place and season.

Rock Ptarmigan

A large number of those people camping and photographing are sincerely “vested” in this grand wilderness area. As such, conversations about the “nature” of things, the “natural” beauty, enjoying the “natural” area, etc., are most common as you visit with others. It’s virtually impossible to be in such a place and not be impacted by its awe.

But, something seems lacking here to me. There are virtually no conversations about the “super-natural” aspect of the creation or creatures! Keen eyes, vested spirits, zealous learners, all seem to stop at simply the “natural.” Let me share a perspective which has been impressed in my heart . . .

This “creation” around us is simply amazing! Observing the balance of “nature,” the cycles of the seasons, the rainbows (remember Gen 9.13-16?), the astounding beauty of it all calls us to consider the Designer of such a design!

Psalm 19:1–2
¹ The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. ² Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge.

Creation testifies to our Creator, the Lord God Almighty, maker of heaven and earth! To see only the “natural” is a blindness! Truly, there is a slight glimpse into the “super-natural” of things.

Yet, the more I pondered this, the more I was reminded of the truth of the Word of God, both of the damages sin has done to us and the Lord’s Creation, as well as the hope of the Lord’s fullness which lies ahead. The Scripture says,

Romans 8:22–25
²² For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. ²³ And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. ²⁴ For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

The Scripture describes our Creation, when the Lord’s redemption through Jesus Christ becomes complete.

Isaiah 11:6–9
⁶ And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. ⁷ Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox. ⁸ The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. ⁹ They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea.

While in Denali Nat. Park, I had opportunity to observe a couple of “kills” where the grizzlys, wolves, and ravens were “naturally” balancing the herd. This is very much part of our present “natural” system and works very well. We need only look at man’s attempt to remove preditors and the chaos we’ve introduced into our world balance.

But, the Word of God says there’s even more ahead when the Lord restores His harmony, His design, His balance, His Creation to its place of a harmony we’ve never known! “Wolf” and “lamb” living together! “Leopard” and “young goat” together! It’s more than amazing. It’s more than a “natural” development. It’s a “super-natural” work of our Lord who brings a fullness, a balance, a harmony, a Creation which is freed from the ravages of sin and it’s devastation, even in our “natural” realm.

The wonder of Jesus Christ paying for the sin in our world is far greater than we may have ever imagined! For us personally, the Scripture says when we place our faith in Jesus, trusting Him alone for the sin that plagues us, we receive “New Life”!

John 3:16
¹⁶ “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

This “New Life,” often called “the life of the ages,” or “eternal life,” touches us, transforms us, teaches us of the love of our Lord who paid for our sin and has far greater for us than we’ve yet imagined or experienced. I would suggest this “New Life” from sin’s removal through Jesus touches even the “natural” world around us and there lies ahead of us a “super-natural” world so “other” than we’ve ever known it will be amazing!

Next time you watch the magnificence of a sunrise or the beauty of Fall or any of the wonders of our world, stop to consider the redemption found in Jesus Christ, not only for you personally, but for all Creation! With “super-natural” eyes, you’ll see even more, see even deeper, hope even greater for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ!

If you’ve been looking, living, only with “natural” eyes and a “natural” heart, let me remind you again of the great truth from the Lord. When you place your faith, not in your own sufficiency, not in the world’s sufficiency, but in Jesus, you receive His gracious gift of “New Life” now and a future with all His new Creation soon to unfold! Re-read John 3.16 again, it’s even deeper, broader, richer than you may have ever imagined! It’s the doorway to the “super-natural”!

A.W. Tozer insightfully writes,

I do not consider that it is my place as a Christian to stand around making judgments and calling other people “hypocrites.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ is the only man I know who was holy and perfect enough to call the religious leaders of the day hypocrites.

I am just a man with faults and shortcomings of my own, and I must always consider myself lest I be tempted!

I preach to my own congregation about our faults and our failings, with the warning that some of our professions of blessing and victory may get into the area of “unintentional hypocrisy.” Through the grace of God and the kindness of our spiritual ancestors we may have spiritual light that some others do not have—but in all honesty, we are wretchedly far below what we should be in living up to it, day by day.

It helps us to be honest and frank and humble to know that the great God Almighty knows the secrets of every person’s heart!

Below is a picture of a wonderful bridge near where I live. It’s a great piece of architecture, almost a sculpture in its design!

Almost every time one of our grandchildren stay with us, grandpa likes to drive them over this bridge and we marvel at how it gets us from one side of this valley to the other, and, it does it with complete safety!

We might say, “It’s a ‘sincere’ bridge.” Our English word “sincere” comes from the Latin words sine cera, which mean “without wax.” Now, how did that come about for a meaning?

It was a common practice in ancient times to cover the flaws in pottery with wax. When you looked at the pottery it “looked” fine, solid, true, strong, usable. But, it was flawed with a weakness that being put under stress or putting it in the sun would disclose.

So, you took your new pottery home, filled it with hot water, and it was a disaster in the making, most often someone got hurt. We all want “sincere” pottery!

Let’s take this “waxing” and apply it to words and consider what that does. When we cover up and hide our words, that’s what we call a “lie.” It’s an untruth. It’s a word that has been “waxed” so it appears to be what it’s really not.

So, how does this relate to our bridge? I like to use a bridge as a model, picture, an illustration for truth. Let me explain.

When I need to get across the valley, maybe of confusion, maybe of danger, and take to you wisdom, assurance, love, compassion (and much more!), I need to travel the bridge of truth. Truth is something “without wax”! It’s “sincere”! You can count on it, rely on it, hang your very life on it!

Words that have been “waxed” can’t take the weight, handle the stress, deal with the intense pressure put on them, and they crumble when put to the test! It’s a disaster in the making!

When we lie, we damage, even destroy, the ability to get back and forth to one another with the things we need for life, assurance, comfort, compassion, wisdom, and love, just to mention some of our live support.

I would suggest that the bridge, a “sincere” bridge, is a great illustration of the truth we must have between us. Lack of this truth isolates us across that valley, relationship falters, weakens, even fails from untruth.

What a great confidence we have as believers in the Lord that He is Truth, and here we build our lives, lives that can span confusion, discouragement, disaster, even the darkness of fear! It’s done in Truth!

Ps 25:8–10.

⁸ Good and upright is the Lord; Therefore He instructs sinners in the way. ⁹ He leads the humble in justice, And He teaches the humble His way. ¹⁰ All the paths of the Lord are loyal-love and truth To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.

Ps 40:11.

¹¹ You, O Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me; Your loyal-love and Your truth will continually preserve me.

The hard truth is that no truth is of the devil, absolute opposition to the very nature and character of the Lord. Jesus said, Jn 8:43–47.

⁴³ “Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. ⁴⁴ “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵ “But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. ⁴⁶ “Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? ⁴⁷ “He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”

In a world of relativism and softness, this “hard truth” may not be what we wanted to hear, but, as we’ve learned from the bridge, we can’t get across in relationship with another, or the Lord Himself, without truth! It is that solid, “sincere,” foundation upon which we indeed build life itself!

Take a look at that next bridge you cross, you’re absolutely counting on it being “without wax” if you want to make it to the other side! Such is the bridge of truth upon which we’ll transport life itself to one another in our world of relationships!

It is through truth we show others who we really are. It is with truth we touch others with the One in whom we believe, His Loyal-Love, and, they can count on it! It’s “without wax”!

As I was photographing some tulips toward the end of their season, I spotted this one particular bloom. It’s showing the signs of the “seasons” and its pedals are not what they used to be.

Now don’t ask me what happened in my head but it was almost immediately filled with a “poem.” And, poems are not my norm but we’ll leave the how it happened to another time.

Back to “beauty.” Our culture is obsessed with its search for this vapor we call beauty. It would be an astounding dollar amount to know what is spent in pursuit of the uncatchable!

I regularly pass a business whose name is the “Anti-Aging Clinic”! That truly has to be one of the oxymorons of our day! Even as amazing is the number of cars parked there, in pursuit of something which will never be found in a jar or crème!

As a photographer, it is a given that if you want to be known as a great photographer, photograph beautiful (here’s our word again!) people. When your photographic work is examined (by worldly standards), all will declare you are indeed a great photographer for the images are “beautiful”!

To combat the blatant vanity of this thinking we try on statements like, “Beauty is only in the eye of the beholder,” or “Beauty is only skin deep.”

The truth is that beauty is neither in the eye, nor in the skin!

A wonderful truth of the Word of God found in Proverbs 31.30 says,

³⁰ Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.

This is wisdom that is most applicable to “both” men and women!

Just a word on what it means to “fear the Lord.” First and foremost, this is not terror. It’s an attitude of our heart I like to paraphrase as “the awesome, reverential, trustful, obedience” of the Lord. Those who “fear the Lord” have put Him first.

Let me put that another way, they’ve been captivated by the Lord’s beauty! The psalmist writes, Ps 96:4–6.

⁴ For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. ⁵ For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the Lord made the heavens. ⁶ Splendor and majesty are before Him, Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.

True beauty is when we’ve been captivated by the Lord’s beauty and live out our lives for His glory.

So, back to the tulip and that poem. When I looked at this “late in season” tulip, I thought to myself, wow, I’ll bet this bloom was really spectacular sometime back. But, no, it’s spectacular right now. This bloom is serving the Lord as the Lord designed, through all its seasons, some of which might catch our (vain) eyes more.

And, the poem flowed . . .

When the season is past, know well, that if you served the Lord with your fleeting glory, you have served (beautifully and) well.

This bloom had done it all, and even now was serving the Lord with awesome, reverential, trustful, obedience. There can be no greater beauty!

Take time to reassess your concept of what is truly beautiful, it’s way more than skin deep! Set a course for true beauty like you find in Ps27.4.

⁴ One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord And to meditate in His temple.

Beauty is reality. Beauty is truth. Beauty is the Lord, and, it’s in our lives as we serve Him, whatever the season!

If you find time for a video exposing the superficiality of our cultures thinking, check out this one: http://bit.ly/w8BKg

It’s really easy to “see” the big things, the mountains and those great moments of life. They so stand out, so demand our attention, and often demand our exalation! The greatness of life grabs us!

Yet, I would suggest “learning to see” begins in the small places. Sometimes it’s places we just think are too insignificant. Other times it’s places to which we really need to get a little closer, take a little longer, look a little deeper.

One such place I spent some time was watching a cormorant in Everglades National Park. I must confess, cormorants are seemingly a little less desirable when you’re in the midst of many very beautiful species. Yet, when I got a little closer, took a little longer, looked a little deeper, these birds began to show some beautiful uniqueness.

One such uniqueness is their eye. It’s like an emerald in the most unlikely of places! In this place I’d long considered insignificant, there began to unfold great beauty I’d missed completely.

Oh, the mountains just scream the greatness of the Lord, likewise those great moments of life, yet, His powerful and precise hand is as close as “learning to see” Him in the things I may well have dismissed. Such it is with the case of a cormorant’s eye! A jewel of the Lord testifying to His majesty and creativeness, even in the smaller places!

The Word of God says, “¹⁶ For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.” Col 1:16.

Let me add one more scene that has really marked me about “learning to see,” especially the hand of the Lord on my life. It’s from David’s life in Psalm 3 that I also learned to look a little closer at life. Psalm 3 describes a time when David is running for his very life from the rebellion of his son, Absalom.

One night David lay down to sleep somewhere in the wilderness and when he awoke, he “looked a little deeper” at life and wrote, “⁵ I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustains me.” Ps 3:5.

During the night, David didn’t get run through with a spear or have his throat slashed! He just awoke, “for the Lord sustains me.”

I would suggest that until we learn to see the hand of the Lord in the small things of life, we’ll really miss His greatness in even the great things of life! David learned and affirmed, “³ But You, O Lord, are a shield about me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head.” Ps 3:3.

Well, I haven’t run for my life in the wilderness, but I have learned to get a little closer, take a little longer, look a little deeper.

The Lord’s greatness and power and sufficiency is absolutely all around us as we “learn to see.”