In seeking to “take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5) and let the Creator of all things reign over my heart, it has become easier and easier to see each of my personal interests through the lens of each one’s relation to God. In the mountains, I see the Creation over which God created man to have dominion. I see just a shadow of what is to come in a remade creation (Rev. 21). In the words of the many pages I read, I see a truth unveiled about the Lord. I see a truth about our culture that improves my engagement of the people around me. I see a fictitious story that heightens my own creativity. I see a narrative that God intended for my enjoyment and imagination. Most of all, I see the creativity of our great God. And on and on I could go, linking the goodness of God to our interests in this world.
The Lord cannot merely be seen in all things; He has a plan in all things. What Joseph’s brothers intended for evil, He intended for good (Gen. 50:20). When God led His people into the desert, He shaped them and revealed Himself and His goodness to them. Later in the biblical narrative, amidst exile, He raised up a Persian king to liberate His people from Babylon. And in the crucifixion of the Anointed One, in the darkness and fear of the disciples, God knew what He was bringing to pass in the few days to follow. In this Supreme Being, the Triune King of all, rests our hope and our attention.
Michael Betrus 