Shades of Color

One morning I arrived early at the place of my morning walk. My friend had not yet arrived so I walked a little way by myself. As I walked, the beautiful blooming magnolia trees along the path caught my eye, as I have a special place in my heart for magnolia trees. As young children, my sisters and I spent many hours ‘playing house’ underneath the magnolia trees across the street from our home. Magnolia blooms are a creamy, velvety white, and their leaves are large and a very dark, rich shade of green. The color combination is striking and beautiful.

Then my attention was drawn to the plants below the magnolia tree. The texture and coloring of the tall grassy plant was very different from the magnolia. The grassy plant looked wispy instead of strong and sturdy. The green color was much lighter and softer. My eyes were then drawn to the landscape behind the magnolias and the grassy plants. I noticed the many shades of green in the trees and landscape. And I marveled at God’s creation and how the colors blended together so beautifully.

Then I was struck with another thought. The many shades of green in nature made me think about the many shades of meaning in the Word of God. When we read a particular passage or verse it may have a special meaning at that time in our lives. Later, we may come across the same verse and it may minister to us in a different or deeper way. Just as nature has many shades of green, a verse may have many shades of meaning, and many applications to our lives. As we read, the Holy Spirit is able to apply the Word to us right where we are in our life and walk with Him. He is able to speak into our mind to minister to our needs, no matter what it might be. It is beautiful to see how that works in nature, and how He applies it to our lives spiritually.

As I walked another thought came to mind. I realized I had walked this path for months, and considering the many shades of green had never occurred to me. I usually walk with a friend and we talk. We share events in our lives and our families. We share prayer requests and the burdens of our hearts. We share things gleaned from reading the Bible, and we discuss spiritual things. Sharing is a beautiful part of the process of growing in Christ and encouraging one another, and that is good, wonderful, and much needed. I don’t mean to belittle Christian fellowship and sharing in any way. But I realized when I focus only on talking and sharing, I often don’t notice the subtle and glorious beauty around me.

So I asked myself, what parallel can I draw from this thought to my spiritual life? And this is what came to mind. Just as walking and talking with a friend can distract us from seeing the beauty of God’s creation around us, in the same way, when we read a passage or verse we can become distracted by good, familiar things and miss the beauty beneath the surface. A verse can remind us of a meaningful event or a special time in our lives. Those are good memories. But perhaps today God wants us to see something new. Often it is not bad things which may block new insight, but rather good or ordinary things.

An example of this to me is Psalm 23. The morning after I trusted Jesus as my Savior I was awakened very early by one of my children crying out. I got up to make sure he was ok, but he had settled back to sleep. Since I was already awake and out of bed, I sat down and picked up my Bible, wondering what to read. I opened my Bible and on the page was Psalm 23:1 and the words, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” Those words brought tears to my eyes! He is MY Shepherd. I had been in church for years but had just trusted Him as Savior for the first time. He is now My Shepherd! It became a special verse to me from then on because it was as if the Lord was affirming to me, ‘You are mine!”

Spring forward to the present. I am currently processing and dealing with the lengthy illness and heavenly homegoing of one of my brothers. He suffered much with his illness and it was difficult to watch. While I am so very thankful he is no longer suffering and has now received his ultimate healing, as a human I am grieving his passing. One morning as I was dealing with his illness I was seeking comfort from God’s word. I opened my Bible to read, and you guessed it, on the page was Psalm 23:1, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” Upon seeing the verse I could have just remembered how special that verse has been to me since that morning He affirmed to me He is my Shepherd. But God shifted my focus to the last part of the verse, and brought to mind another thought, that in Him there is no want, no lack. He brought me hope by applying the verse to my heart in a different and special way. No matter my need right now in relation to the passing of my brother, I shall have no lack of what is needed to comfort my hurting heart. Now that he is gone from the earth I am comforted to know he is in heaven with his Savior since he had trusted in the cleansing blood of Jesus for his sins. I am comforted to know that in heaven there is no more pain, sorrow, or tears. I am comforted to know that I will see him again in heaven. As I pondered these thoughts, once again the tears flowed. God used a familiar verse in a different way to bring hope and comfort to my heart.

So my encouragement is this: take the time it takes to glean God’s message to you from His Word. Don’t let good or familiar things distract you from the best thing. Just as one walks through God’s creation and pauses to appreciate the glorious beauty of it, pause as you read and let the rich depth of the beauty of God’s Word nourish your heart as you take it in.

Author: Clara NeSmith

Clara NeSmith has taught Bible study classes in her local church for over 40 years, and is currently working on her first book. She enjoys sharing from God’s Word the truths gleaned in her daily study, along with her hobbies of reading and sewing. Clara worked at her dream job of being a stay-at-home mom for many years. She then did Social Work in an elderly care setting for 20 years. She has four grown children and 9 grandchildren. She currently resides in Brandon, FL.