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Finding God in the Small Things




The French artist Henri Matisse was once asked about his incredible palette of colors used in his paintings and how he figured out ways to blend them so seamlessly. His response was beautiful: “There are always flowers for those who want to see them.”


Matisse’s words suggested that beauty isn’t a scarce commodity but a constant presence in our world. It’s not about the physical existence of flowers, but our ability to perceive them. He implied that beauty is subjective and dependent on our openness to see it, and when I read the words, it was a call for me to cultivate a mindset of appreciation and wonder.


I believe that beauty can be found in the most ordinary aspects of our lives, and finding it, even in hard times, is about shifting our perspective, looking beyond the obvious, and discovering the extraordinary in the everyday.


By capturing the essence of a flower on canvas, he wasn’t reproducing nature but offering a new way to see it. His work encouraged viewers to look at the world with fresh eyes.


I am inspired by another painter, not with pigments and canvas, but with words. King David had a way of bringing incredible emotion to mind through the use of his words. (If you are a word person, David had the gift.)


“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” Psalm 19:1


In the quiet solitude of the fields, tending his father’s flock, a young shepherd named David found a sanctuary for his soul. As he watched the sun paint the sky with hues of gold and crimson, and as night descended, unveiling a celestial canvas adorned with countless stars, David’s heart expanded in awe.


Long before the weight of a kingdom rested on his shoulders, David was a student of the universe. He taught himself to see the grand in the small, the eternal in the fleeting. The vastness of the night sky, filled with stars and planets beyond human comprehension, instilled in him a profound sense of humility. It was in those quiet moments, under the canopy of stars, that David grappled with questions of existence and purpose.


Psalm 8, often attributed to David, echoes this sentiment: “What is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” It is a cry of wonder and humility, a recognition of the infinite chasm between the Creator and the created. Yet, even in this vastness, David found solace, for in the intricate design of the stars in the night sky, he saw the fingerprints of a loving God.


David would never lose sight of the bigness of God's presence, declaring in Psalm 11 that heaven is God's throne and the earth His footstool. This profound understanding of God’s immensity shaped his perspective, grounding him in humility even as he rose to power. While he would face times when he could not make his problems any smaller than they were to him in the moment, he could always remind himself that God was bigger.


Like David, we too can find God in the little things. In the delicate petals of a flower, the intricate structure of a snowflake, or the vast expanse of the night sky, we glimpse the majesty and wonder of creation. By slowing down and paying attention to the details of our world, we open ourselves to a deeper appreciation for the divine.


So, the next time you find yourself feeling overwhelmed or stressed, take a moment to look around. Notice the beauty in the ordinary, the kindness in a stranger's smile, or the peace in a quiet moment. In these little things, you might just discover the extraordinary presence of God.


Just as David’s contemplation of the heavens shaped his character and prepared him for the challenges to come, so too can our mindfulness of the little things strengthen our faith and deepen our connection with God.

 

~ Daniel

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