More from Valerie Bryant Bennett

In my devotional “Outer Fringes,” I try to offer a glimpse into the incomprehensible God who is behind the scenes in nature.

Nature has always brought me closer to God than anything except the scriptures. In the animal world, I see God’s imaginative creativity, and perhaps God’s sense of humor. I think of God smiling as the first long-legged giraffe stretched its neck into a tall tree. I imagine God’s delight with the antics of the otter or the comical appearance of the platypus. And it is wondrous to me that in the depths of the sea, unseen for thousands of years, God placed colorful fish and creatures like the angler fish, which carries a light above its head. I love thinking that God may have done some of this for his own pleasure, since much of the sea is still unexplored my humans.

My devotional mentioned the universe, but the design in things like a single leaf, a spider’s web, or an orchid cause me to be awed and humbled by God’s wisdom and power. I have learned important lessons from watching how the laws of nature operate.

It is a wonderful comfort to be surrounded by all of the tangible evidence that God is real . . . and that to know that one day, through Christ, we will see the God who now we only glimpse.