While driving through Kaokoland you may be privileged to see sculptures made from stones and wire. They depict men performing different activities and they are so unexpected that the sight of them brings a surge of joy and surprise. The sculptor must be a very special person and I imagine his own joy while making and positioning these art works.
Everywhere we go in nature, we find evidence of the joyful Creator, Jesus Christ. A solitary green tree embedded in the rock of a desert mountain, the decorative designs of stones, plants, insects and birds, the abundant brilliance of the starry skies. I see and learn that God is able to do far more than I could ever dream or think and that He delights in unexpected and surprising displays of His majesty.
One of the questions I asked when we had the opportunity to take long leave, was "for what purpose?" I felt guilty about being the recipient of such grace without a definite reason. I felt I should explain and defend the privilege. But after 2 months of waiting for some deep and meaningful answer to my question I believe it to be, "Just for the joy of it!"
God is God and He is good and He loves to bestow gifts and create beauty just for the joy of it. Being in ministry and working as a nurse for thirty years has taught me the importance of servanthood and sacrifice. In seeking to grow in the knowledge of God, He is now showing me His abundant goodness, love and joy. God is good. God is love. God is joy. He doesn't only give these things. He gives them because they are who He is. To get to know Him in this way, is a very humbling experience.
Like the stone man lying on a rock in the middle of a naked landscape or a fragile blossom in the desert, every surprising, undeserved and impartial gift, reveals to me more of my Lord and God, my joyful Creator. How can I not fall down in worship before Him?