Last week, my friends gave me a vase full of near perfection.

Eight newly-opened dahlias in reds, purples, and white came home with me and graced the island in our kitchen. Whenever I drank my tea, or prepared meals, or opened the mail, I had to stop and stare at them, particularly the purple ones. I’ve never seen a flower quite like them, with petal upon petal in perfect symmetry; they look computer-generated, but they aren’t. An intelligent Designer dreamed them up and spoke them into being. Why? Because not only does He create beauty, but apparently He loves to share it with the world.

I, for one, am so grateful He does. I am a beauty lover. Beauty in almost any form moves me, but especially in nature. Some of my favorite moments with beauty include:

• Standing under a sunset sky, painted with brilliant colors that turned the light around me pink;
• Looking across a field yellow with sunflowers, a thousand faces turned toward the sun;
• Riding a train through the majestic Alps, gazing up at the mountains and down on green valleys and tiny villages below.

Moments like these fill me with awe and compel me to worship the God who created the beauty around us—a God who is generous beyond measure.

The Giver
Generosity is part of God’s nature. As He spoke creation into being, He filled the earth with good things: light and sky, land and sea, plants and trees, living creatures of all kinds. And finally, man and woman. You and me. All of it created for our good and His glory.

Having created this earth with great care, He also sustains it. “He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things” (Psalm 107). He meets our physical needs through His provision. And He meets our spiritual needs, too.

In language rich with imagery, He invites us to come to Him, to take a seat at His table spread with a bounty we can scarcely imagine. Golden platters piled high with love, deep bowls rich with grace, vast tureens of forgiveness, and baskets spilling over with mercy.

“Come and eat,” He says in Isaiah 55:1.

“Taste and see that the Lord is good,” He tells us in Psalm 34:8.

When we partake—when we hear His Word or the Good News or a friend’s testimony—we get a taste of what’s possible. We get a glimpse of what He is offering: the fulfillment of our deepest spiritual needs through the death and resurrection of Jesus, His perfect Son.

God’s generosity, it seems, knows no bounds.

The Sharers
Through the years, I have seen others, all of them believers, model His generosity in front of me:

• my parents, who regularly gave their tithe and offerings, in both good times and lean, and gave gifts to their children and grandchildren;
• my teachers and mentors who poured time and energy into helping me grow in my walk with Christ;
• my friends who have supported me with their presence and their prayers in difficult times and ordinary times.

Their gifts, shared from grateful hearts, have shown me how to be generous, too.

My own gratitude makes me want to show my love for God by sharing from the abundance that He has given me.

When I give from what He has given me, perhaps by making a financial gift to spread God’s Word internationally or to feed the hungry here at home, a deep sense of joy and delight wells up in me. I get to be a part of what He’s doing. I get to help others taste and see that the Lord is good.

He uses us to draw others to His table so that their hearts can be filled with His bounty, too. And there’s no better time to share with others than now, with the crises of 2020 still looming large in the minds and hearts of people around the world.

God’s generosity, starting with the gift of salvation through His Son, Jesus, is deeper and wider than the star-filled universe. It stretches further than the painted sunset-sky above, shines brighter than an endless sunflower field, soars higher even than the Alps.

Everywhere, we can see evidence of our generous God. Everywhere, we see the beauty of His generosity.

*****
by LeAnne Martin 
To read more from LeAnne, visit glimsen.net where she writes about the wonder and awe of the beauty we can find in everyday life. Noticing the beauty around you will brighten and enrich your life.