God Revealed

It is so cool when God opens our blind eyes to see Him at work in our everyday lives. I really give thanks for when He convicts my heart, or when He changes my perspective to see things in a different light, or when He just puts me in pure awe and wonder of His goodness and majesty.

For a while now, i've been trying to keep track in my prayer journal all the time i've seen 'God Revealed'. I've already been doing this here and there on my blog but I think i'll start compiling a list of posts titled that so I can build a collection to look back on and also a collection to share! I've always (and continue to) wrestle with seeing where God is throughout my day - so I hope this can be an encouragement and reminder for both you and me that God is present and with us (as He promises) and as we grow in Him, He will open our eyes to seeing His wondrous deeds, in the big or the small.

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The Swarming Things - I've never really regarded insects as anything special, but because I need to choose certain restricted electives to graduate and based on the raving review from a friend, i'm currently enrolled in the Insect Diversity and Biology course. And as interesting as this course is, it's been very overwhelming to take in so much information and be expected to know it all (I already have a lab test on Tuesday!).

That being said, I think as I slowly adjust to how the course works, the language and the rhythms of it all, the content has really been growing on me - and instead of complaining about all that I need to memorize and know, i've come to see the course in two ways. A) that entomology is basically the study of Pokemon of the real natural world - all these different lineages, orders and families, each unique in their own way, some with crunching powerful mandibles, and some with specialized appendages for different functions. I'm basically a Pokemon Trainer trying to catch (remember) 'em all... (literally as I have to make a insect collection by April) except for the fact that as a child I was never tested on identifying distinct characteristics and knowing both common and scientific names of Pokemon. B) that this course was basically a guided tour through God's creation (a big part of it actually considering that insects make up a incredibly massive part of the pie of living things, over 75%! - not only in terms of diversity/species, but also in abundance! - did you know there are approximately 200 000 ants for each human being on earth?!).

Just yesterday in class, we were talking about the Order Ephermaptera, known as the Mayflies - characterized by their long cerci (abdominal appendages), unfolded wings, and short lives (Epherma = short lived). Before their adult stage, they are nymphs and they're actually aquatic, equipped with gills that line their abdomen to help with respiration. We learnt that in different species, the gills are seen differently - some have bigger plate-like gill structures, and some have gills and fringes sticking out of their abdomen to wave around causing a current for gaseous exchange. Not only within the order, but across orders, some have slits on their abdomen for breathing instead of gills... the list goes on and on. But it fascinated me that God, our mighty Creator was sitting on his throne and considering each of the different insects saying "you're going to breathe under water with gills, but you guys on the other hand, i'll give you slits along your back to take in air, and you're going to reproduce by depositing sperm into little balls for the female to pick up (indirect fertilization). Hmm let's see, you're going to not have mouths cause you don't feed as adults, and... okay, this group will move around by using a specialized appendage to launch yourselves into the air like a catapult". With this course, I was pretty much being guided through what God was thinking of when he was making each family and species of insect (and this course isn't even close to encompassing all of it!).

Adult Mayfly
Gills on Mayfly Nymph
But more than that, if God considered all these insects so intricately and with such detail, then what about us? People that were made in the very image of God - of course God knows your heart, the hairs on your head; He formed us in our mother's womb - how much MORE valuable are we to our Creator! He definitely will not forget us, and He loves us oh so much. God is so good and so cool!

I'm excited to see how my perspective will change the next time I go for a hike. In the past I remember complaining saying things like "all i saw today was a seagull". Thinking "there's nothing cool in the woods, no deer, no bears" - but hey, there are about 950 000 species of insects across the face of the planet, and that's only the ones we know and have identified! Insects roam and dominate the earth, they're in your house, under your cabinets, and of course, outside too! And to think that so many times our view on this aspect of creation is "ew", "step on it" and "kill it". Our God is such a cool and creative God! Let us appreciate what He has made!

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Praying for School. God has no only put me in awe and wonder, but He is continually sanctifying me through the Holy Spirit. To be honest, in the past i've always been so turned off when a prayer request is "school" - like obviously school, homework, midterms and stuff, oh so hard and difficult. Why aren't our requests stuff like wisdom, or to see the beauty of God more, or the boldness to share the Gospel? First and foremost, there are no prayer requests that are 'better' than others. Second, recently I think God has changed my perspective on this whole "praying for school" idea.

I've been reading through the Psalms in my morning devotions and I read Psalm 13 a few days ago. Here David is howling and crying to God in desperation, sharing his genuine feelings with God - "how long O LORD? will you forget me forever?", "look on me and answer". As I read this I thought, "wow these are quite the statements, questioning God? demanding from God? that's quite bold" but I learnt that God wants to hear our genuine feelings, even if sometimes it is anger and demand towards Him.

It got me thinking, how genuine am I with God? Do I bring all things before God, even if its anger, or things (for some reason) I think are "not worthy enough" to bring to God, like school stresses? I quickly came to realize that maybe i've always put praying for school to the side because I think that's something I can handle; as if God doesn't need to be a part of it, or "God has better things to do/worry about" - but no! Our God is a relational God - He desires for us to know Him, He desires for us to genuinely call out to Him in things big and small. God wants in on your life! Let us practice bringing ALL THINGS to God.

Praise the LORD for how He reveals both Himself and ourselves to us. He is good.

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