Feeling His Presence
Experiencing God in Nature
Watching the European countryside from a metro and feeling the presence of God …
A sunburnt face pressed against the window, I swirled my finger around the loose cap of my Fanta bottle and anticipated the long, quiet ride back.
I was on a cross-cultural trip to Germany and Poland with my college’s journalism department, an endeavor that wore up to ten miles into your feet per day and instated a longing in your bones to still. Dare I say, I was so enveloped in excitement and fatigue that I never allowed myself to sit in God’s presence or understand the gravity of where he led me.
The metro rolled into a steady speed, switching back and forth between the technicolor-graffiti-covered cement buildings and complete tunnel darkness.
“Well this isn’t life-changing, huh?” I uttered to myself. I wanted scenery that would keep me from closing my eyes, or somehow give enough energy and restoration to my strained mind to continue the day. Nature can do that I’ve learned throughout the years.
Then, the blockades broke into mid-afternoon countryside. A moment where, even though you’re inside the metro, you can somehow feel a passing wisp of the scenery’s wind and the jolting of the metro’s wheels smooth out into the sun’s serendipity. I began to see meadows sectioned by complementary shades of green patches, egg yolk-colored flowers whizzing by the window?a summertime mosaic. I began to let my mind wander.
While watching the countryside multiply in beauty each mile, I realized that only God can put that sense of contented presence in experiencing nature. A tinge of revitalization through the artist’s creation, nostalgia locked up in autumn weather, and a warm breeze telling you that you’re right where God placed you to be.
I have always lived with the idea that God gently pushes you forward through picturesque moments. Continuation divinely fueled by a fond retrospection of old, happy memories and a desire for more memories and a craving for more life. My faith strengthened by God tapping on the metro’s glass window through a European countryside, telling me to taste and see that he is good.
As I sit, surrounded by my cubicle at One Mission Society’s headquarters and think back to the memories that God strategically created, I remember the visual beauty accompanying God’s presence, settling something in the soul, simultaneously solidifying his message, yet moving me forward. His artistic hand restores my faith to continue my calling.
God can do that, I’ve learned throughout the years.
By Madison Anderson, OMS Communications Intern, Summer 2022