STRESS RELIEVERS FROM GOD'S CREATIONS

STRESS RELIEVERS FROM GOD’S CREATIONS

Today carried a heavy weight of stressors for my friend and me. In the late afternoon, she sent me a photo of the two cats she recently inherited. Her message was: “stress relievers.” Looking at the picture, I could feel myself reaching out to pet their soft silky fur, and I exhaled a slow sigh of relief, and I felt myself starting to relax. When God created animals and gave some of them the ability to become our pets, He sure knew what He was doing!

Many of God’s creations can ease our burdened souls: a beautiful sky, a flower-filled hillside, an expansive view of the ocean, a motorcycle ride with the wind blowing in your face, a big hug from a friend, all this and so much more. But for me, pets are one of the biggest blessings. God anticipated days like this when His children would need something in the physical world to calm them. He planned a great variety so that He could have something special for every person.

It was so important to God to prepare things to bless us that He put it right in the beginning of His written word, and before that, His message was already set in the sky and in everything He created. He made many wonderful things for His children even before the children came. We do the same thing today. When a couple finds out they are having a baby, they start to prepare for the baby. They try to get everything set, so when that baby arrives, it has a wonderful and happy physical environment to come into.

In Genesis, God uses the first 25 verses to describe what He created before He brought humans into existence on the earth. At work, we always make jokes about doing the prep work before painting. We say: “75% prep, and 25% actual painting time,” and most of the time, it’s true! Truth is: if the prep work isn’t quality, the painting doesn’t come out as well as it could. God did His prep work well!

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. . . And God said, ‘Let there be light:’ and there was light. 

“And God said, ‘Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.’ And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

“And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit. . . and God saw that it was good. 

“And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

“And God said, ‘Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and the fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven’. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 

“And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good” (Gen. 1:1-24 some words left out for brevity’s sake).

Then, after all the intricacies and details of the creative works He did in preparation for us, verse 26 records: “And God said, Let us make man.”

Today, even though I couldn’t physically touch the kitties, I could feel what it was like if I could, and even the thought of petting their soft silky, warm bodies calmed me down, and I was able to rest. I am so happy that God created animals who would want to become our beloved pets.  

Love, Carolyn