Holiday delights

The LORD your God … will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love
(Zephaniah 3:17)

I’ve just got back from a lovely break in the Scottish Cairngorms. I love having holiday time to slow down and drink in the wonders and curiosities of creation. Walks in the Scottish wilderness are especially good for this - you never know what you will see! This year I had a close encounter with a barn owl sitting in the window of a derelict farmhouse, glimpsed a frog not much bigger than my thumbnail and spied spotted orchids scattered across the heather. I was mesmerised by shiny beetles with shimmering underbellies and saw ancient Scots pines with gnarled roots wrapped round their huge trunks, gawped at gaudy toadstools, gazed at two majestic buzzards hunting, followed a dipper down a mountain stream, watched a daring young red squirrel scamper along the parapet of a stone bridge. The burnished evening light took my breath away as it lit up the mountains, and the deep-throated chuckle of peat streams soothed me.
 
We went to a service on holiday celebrating God’s glory expressed through creation. The speaker suggested that taking delight in God’s creation is a part of worshipping God. I was really struck by this. Appreciating the beauty and intricate design of all that God has made deepens our awe at how great God is. Perhaps it’s also part of sharing in God’s own delight in the goodness of all that he has made.
 
On one of our mountain hikes, high up in a boulder-strewn pass through the mountains, we stumbled across a graceful lone flower, a butterwort (see the photo!). This beautiful flower got me thinking! It may never be seen or admired by people, but that doesn’t stop it flowering, being all that God created it to be, and bringing God glory as it does. God sees it and delights in it, and that is what gives it value. And it’s similar with us. Our worth doesn’t come from whether other people see and notice us, or whether we achieve significant things. It comes from the fact that God made and loves each of us. We’re made to delight in God and his goodness, and creation helps us to do that. But God also delights in us. The delight runs both ways!
 
May the summer holidays help us slow down enough to hear God’s voice saying over us: “You are my beloved child. You bring me great joy.”
 
Thank you, heavenly Father, for holiday time to delight in your beautiful creation. Thank you that you delight in us, too. As we rest over the summer help us to tune in to your voice of love. Amen