It is Very Good

When God saw all that he had created he said, “It is very good!”

Genesis 1:31

Despite the not so pleasant things in the world, nature, creation is beautiful and good.

I have recently been on holiday. I do what I often do and head out into nature. I don’t see any attraction in Surfers Paradise. I had a couple of things to do with Julie and the NDIS, so I did hang around Brisbane a bit. But even in the big smoke I managed to visit nature. I went to the Roma Street Parklands, the City Botanic Gardens, and the Redcliffe Botanic Gardens. Getting out into nature is proven to help with mental health and stimulate a feeling of well-being.

One highlight was a visit to the small town of Bell on the Downs. From there I visited the Bunya Mountains National Park. I absolutely loved walking around the rainforest and looking at trees that were hundreds of years old. Some of the Bunya pines still had the scars where indigenous Australians cut hand and toe holds so they could climb up to get the nuts. There is goodness and beauty in nature. Not everything was good. Stinging (Gympie-Gympie) trees were very close to the path. I have heard some horror stories about what the sting is like. Even so, I was very tempted to touch. This probably won’t surprise people who know me well. I also came away with 2 hitchhikers – ticks. As I type this I still have red lumps where they were.

Despite the not so pleasant things in the world, nature, creation is beautiful and good. We live in a world with a wide array of beautiful birds, interesting animals, and a wonderful variety of foods to eat. When God saw all that he had created he said, “It is very good!”

Pastor Andy