“And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind,” and it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.” – Genesis 1:24-25
During debrief in South Africa, I went on an African Safari! We began the day very early in the morning to hop into open safari vehicles driving to Kruger National Park. As we got there, one of our vehicles had a flat tire and quite honestly, I was somewhat concerned we would miss something cool due to us not starting on time. Little did I know the Lord would exceed all expectations I had for that day! My group saw in total: 33 giraffes, 9 warthogs, 12 waterbucks, 62 elephants, 500+ impala, 300+ cape buffalo, 7 rhino, 4 lions, 23 kudu, 31 antelope, 4 hippos, 7 monkeys, 27 zebras, 2 leopards, 4 wilder beasts, 1 ostrich, 5 alligators, and 11 baboons.
As I saw these creatures, I was and still am completely blown away by the creativity and artistic abilities of our Creator. An even greater artist than Van Gogh or Leonardo da Vinci. We spent the day playing hide n’ seek with these “alien beings” as it felt like we were on an entirely different planet. In the beginning God simply spoke these animals into creation yet made them so intricate down to the smallest details.
The Lord used this safari adventure to bring me into a much deeper reverence and awe of His character. All of creation has His name written all over it and I see Him everywhere in everything. Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare God’s glory; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.” There are days here in Swaziland I look out across the African plains and watch as the sun begins to set. Colors fill the evening sky and cool air surrounds me. Bright stars fill the expanse above and every so often one will zoom across my view. A shooting star… yet, the only thing I could ever wish for is to know Him more. To fall more deeply in love with Jesus and become more like Him every day. As I was typing this post, the Lord reminded me of lyrics to a song capturing just a small bit of His beauty:
“I see Your face in every sunrise, the colors of the morning are inside Your eyes. The world awakens in the light of the day, I look up to the sky and say, You’re beautiful. I see Your power in the moonlit night, where planets are in motion and galaxies are bright. We are amazing in the light of the stars; it’s proclaiming who You are. You’re beautiful.”
