Fingerprints.

I found God’s fingerprints!They were actually right in front of me all along. The problem is that I was traveling so fast that I couldn’t see them.Funny thing about fingerprints: if you’re ever seen one of the CSI-type shows, the investigators have to search, dust, sample, and analyze fingerprints. That can’t happen in a flash, but takes time, observation skills, and patience.It’s the same with God’s fingerprints. You have to pause, and look—I mean really search—to see them.  I know this because I am a fast-moving, get-r’done kind of guy. This can be a good thing, but it’s also a challenge to slow down in order to see and appreciate the evidences of God.So where are God’s fingerprints?They are all over the amazing world and universe He’s provided for us. I’m not saying God is Nature or that Nature is God. No, my point is that all creation was spoken into being by God, and He holds all the cosmos together by His powerful and loving hand.Hence, God’s fingerprints.So whether I’m walking a warm sandy beach watching a Gulf-coast sunset, or walking in boots as they crunch the frosty, newly-fallen snow, if I slow down I can see evidences of God in His creation.The ancient writer of Psalm 8 put it this way:

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars which you have set in place,

what is mankind that you are mindful of them,

human beings that you care for them?

You have made them a little lower than the angels

and crowned them with glory and honor.

You made them rulers over the works of your hands;

you put everything under their feet:

all flocks and herds,

and the animals of the wild,

the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea,

all that swim the paths of the seas.

Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Worship for a lifetime involves slowing down, looking up and around and seeing the glorious fingerprints of God that still break through our broken world. Rather than me going on, I invite you to stop right now and take a listen to the song “The Nature of You” which is included on this blog. It’s a song I wrote after several days of slowing down and spending time enjoying God’s fingerprints in the world around me. Look for the video soon on my new YouTube page, some very talented videographers set it "The Nature of You" to video and I hope it inspires you to go out and look for the evidences of God that are all around.I’ve included the lyrics for you below, so slow down, relax, and enjoy God’s fingerprints! 

The Nature of You

I run through days unaware of the miracles of the universe around me.

I have to pull myself away

From the frantic pace to a place where I’m reminded of the nature of You.

It takes some time, a day or two,

before I slow down enough to understand it.

Then on a starry night I see,

And I’m filled with awe at that moment by the nature of You.

And I cry, O God,

I see the sun, the moon, the stars that You’ve created-

And I’m humbled at the sight.

I cry, O God

With all the universe before You, I’m amazed

At the thought that You love me.

You’ve given me life, and a place in Your plan,

It’s all in the nature of You.

I cry, O God,

I see the earth, the sea, the living things You’ve made-

And I’m humbled at the sight.

I cry, O God,

With all the universe before You, I’m amazed

At the thought that You love me.

You’ve given me life, and a place in Your plan,

It’s all in the nature of You.

I stand silent by the roaring, foaming surf,

I am sheltered by the towering hills and pines.

I gaze at avalanching snow on granite peaks,

I look down at my living, searching hands.

I see the teaming of the flocks on autumn breeze,

I hear the birth of a foal in spring’s fresh air,

I feel my calloused fingers touch my baby’s hand,

And I feel Your loving hand touch my heart.

And I cry, O God…

Oh, I’m humbled at the sight.

I cry, O God,

With all the universe before You, I’m amazed

At the thought that You love me.

You’ve given me life, and a place in Your plan,

It’s all in the nature of You.

You’ve given me life, and a place in Your plan

It’s all in Your nature, O God.

Words and music by Christopher J. Atkins

© 1999 Christopher J. Atkins. All rights reserved.