6T 186
(Testimonies for the Church Volume 6 186)
There is much talk about God in nature, as if the Lord were bound by the laws of nature to be nature’s servant. Many theories would lead minds to suppose that nature is a self-sustaining agency apart from the Deity, having its own inherent power with which to work. In this men do not know what they are talking about. Do they suppose that nature has a self-existing power without the continual agency of Jehovah? The Lord does not work through His laws to supersede the laws of nature. He does His work through the laws and properties of His instruments, and nature obeys a “Thus saith the Lord.” (6T 186.1) MC VC
The God of nature is perpetually at work. His infinite power works unseen, but manifestations appear in the effects which the work produces. The same God who guides the planets works in the fruit orchard and in the vegetable garden. He never made a thorn, a thistle, or a tare. These are Satan’s work, the result of degeneration, introduced by him among the precious things; but it is through God’s immediate agency that every bud bursts into blossom. When He was in the world in the form of humanity, Christ said: “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.” John 5:17. So when the students employ their time and strength in agricultural work, in heaven it is said of them, Ye “are laborers together with God.” 1 Corinthians 3:9. (6T 186.2) MC VC