The Sign of God
It is the sight of God’s creation that enables people to discover the presence of God in this world. People must, therefore, recognize their Maker through His creation.
It was the 7th of September 1982, when I was standing in front of a tree in a hilly region of Africa. I had never before seen such a tree. It seemed to be a sign from God, so strange and wonderful it appeared to me. Its delicate flowers, chiselled fruit, and geometrically designed leaves seemed to call out that they had not come into being by themselves but had been made by some ineffable Creator.
Every tree in this world is, in truth, an example of God’s artistry. However, since I had come across this kind of tree for the first time, I felt more inspired by it. On seeing this strange and beautiful African tree, I spontaneously exclaimed, “It seems that all the things in this world bear the stamp, ‘Made by God’, but then God, having made all these things, hid away from mortal sight. People must, therefore, recognize their Maker through His creation. It is the sight of God’s creation that enables people to discover the presence of God in this world.
An experienced engineering expert can tell whether a machine has been made in the Soviet Union, the U.S.A., Japan, or Britain because of unique features in its design and performance. However, it does not take an expert to see the uniqueness of the design and performance of all those innumerable natural ‘machines’ that perform their duty in our world with such perfect regularity. These machines do not carry labels showing their place of manufacture, but the exceptional qualities of their design and their exceptional performance are, in themselves, a clear indication of who their Maker is.
None of nature’s phenomena explicitly carries labels stating their Maker, but they all bear His divine stamp in a more subtle, meaningful way. If one is sufficiently discerning to go beneath the surface of the underlying reality, one will inevitably exclaim, “Undoubtedly, God has made this! No one else could have produced such marvels of perfection!”
