Because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

—Romans 1:19-20

The summer of 2017 marked the beginning of one of the most difficult years of my life so far. I was starting a new job and had just moved to a new city. It wasn’t so far away that I wouldn’t get to spend time with my friends, but it was far enough away for me to feel the separation. My new apartment was large and mostly empty because I hadn’t been able to find a roommate. For the first time in my life, I was truly living alone.

For some people, that probably sounds like a pretty good deal. Plenty of space to yourself—not having to worry about someone else’s disgusting habits—being free to do what you want without having to be considerate of anyone else. There are definitely some perks, but that year taught me something about myself I probably never would have fully understood otherwise—I struggle with depression, and the thing that does the best job of triggering that struggle for me is loneliness.

It’s not that I had never struggled before. I had been lonely plenty of times before that summer, and that familiar feeling of being emotionally stuck in a place where I didn’t feel like I had the strength to get up and go through life was never far behind. But the loneliness had always been short-lived and the darkness had always gone away soon afterward.

When I moved to Brandon, that was no longer the case. I didn’t have a roommate who would be back before the weekend was over or best friends who were just a 10-minute walk away. I didn’t know my neighbors. I didn’t have family close by. I was alone, and for the first time in my life, I began to struggle with depression to the point where I almost couldn’t get out of bed. There were some days that it was a major victory for me to force myself to cook a meal so I could eat. 

It was a dark time for me. Until spring.

One Saturday morning, in the spring of 2018, I woke up to the beautiful music of a songbird. The head of my bed rested against a window that looked out on a small tree. Had there been no glass, I could have reached out and touched it. The tree was just beginning to burst into the bright green of spring, and that morning God sent a songbird to sing over me as I woke up. Each note was like a new ray of light breaking through my struggle.

It would have been easy to dismiss the bird and the comfort its song gave me as just being a coincidence, but instead, I spent time meditating on God’s kindness and gentleness and found a kind of rest I had not experienced since I had moved in. He had sent me a reminder that I hadn’t been alone at all over the past 8 months, that He had been with me the whole time. 

The rest of that school year, songbirds would come sing at my windows, but at my apartment and at school, on my worst days. And every time I heard them, I was reminded of how God was with me and how tenderly He loved me.

God revealed part of Himself to me in the sweet notes of a songbird. I think that’s exactly what Paul is talking about in Romans 1. God has woven His character throughout creation like the Master Craftsman He is. From the cosmic to the microscopic. It’s a divine scavenger hunt, and it’s one we’re meant to succeed at. 

The word translated as “understood” in verse 20 refers to the act of making a mental effort to figure things out. It is an intentional attempt to gain knowledge in order to form a conclusion. If we will do that, if we will make an intentional effort to learn what we can about God from the world He has made, there is so much out there for us to find.

What is your most recent songbird? The surprising thing that has taught you just a little bit more about Who God is and how much He loves us? I believe God delights to reveal Himself to us, and it is so life-giving when He does. 

If you haven’t come across one recently, my hope is that you’ll decide to look this week. Look at sunrise (or sunset, if that’s more to your liking); listen to the birds; watch your children and your friends who know the Lord. Be ready for what He may want to teach you, and I’m confident you’ll see Him.