Atop the Cinder Cone overlooking Lassen Peak, California

God chose to create the world.

When He decided to make planet earth, God chose to create each living thing and each of the physical elements of earth.  Each was specifically planned by God and spoken into being.

Wild berries, sage brush, and Mt. Shasta near the Big Crack in Lava Beds National Monument, California

God could have just gone Poof! And there would have been earth; the Garden of Eden; the animals, etc.  But He had a better plan in mind.

Ocean views from Point Arena-Stornetta National Monument, California

And so He created each thing.  Genesis 2:8 says that God “planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.”  God didn’t just Poof! the garden; He planted it.

Hoh Rain Forest in Olympic National Park, Washington

And He didn’t just Poof! man; He “formed him from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of live, and the man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7)

Sunrise at the Cloud Cap Campground, Oregon

When you or I plant a garden, we do it specifically.  We place the plants in the places where they will grow best, where the flowers and shrubs will be most pleasing to the eye, the senses, and what will be the most useful and beautiful.

Rose trellis at Kent Park Arboretum, Webster, New York

When God planted the Garden of Eden, He “caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food” (Genesis 2:9).

Maple in color at the Willowwood Arboretum in Chester, New Jersey

God didn’t just create the world willy-nilly.  He had a plan in mind, and while sin contrived to mess up that plan, He still came through with Redemption.

Thistles on the shore of the Pacific, Beverly Beach, Oregon

God created with plan and purpose.  Some places He made for producing rich harvests; others, for resources like timber, mining, etc.; most for beauty, some perhaps for beauty alone.

Druid Arch in Canyonlands National Park, Utah

And so when we go out into the natural world, into the wilderness, we can experience the plan, the expressed purpose of God.  We can explore the places He chose to create, the things He intentionally spoke into being on earth.