Connecting to God Through Homesteading

Connecting to God can become easier and more obvious by living through the everyday trials and joys of homesteading.

For those seeking to know God, forming connection is incredibly important. I’ve found that since we’ve decided to homestead, I continuously find myself connecting to God through the experiences of everyday living. Whether it’s the simple joy that comes from the first red tomato in the garden, or the awe and wonder that fills me as I gaze at the nighttime sky, I’m learning more and more about how to connect to God based upon this lifestyle He’s led me towards.

Through this post, I’m hoping to help you, too, connect with God. The homesteading lifestyle is filled with joys and excitement, but it is also filled with sadness and frustration. I hope through all of these things you’re able to find a connection with God and the greater picture that lies beyond what we can see.

Table of Contents

• Connecting to God through Nature
  • Understanding Nature Helps to Understand God
  • Following Jesus’s Footsteps
  • Hands-On Ways to Connect to God through Nature on the Homestead
    • Be Still and Observe
    • Create a Nature Praise Journal
    • Try to See the Bigger Picture
• Connecting to God through Simple Living
  • The Homesteading Connection
  • Hands-On Ways to Connect to God through Simple Living
• Connecting to God through Animal Husbandry
  • Using Animals to Form Perspective
  • Raising Animals Can Help Us Understand
  • Hands-On Ways to Connect to God through Animal Husbandry
• More on Christian Homesteading
• Save this Post

Connecting to God through Nature

There are so many opportunities to connect to God through nature. The natural world is God’s provided home for us all. It is where we belong.

In Genesis, the author reflects on the story of creation, noting God’s plan to provide for us as humans in chapter 1:29-30: “Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground- everything that has life.” And that is what happened.” God has designed a world for us, providing all that we need. Everything has been created by Him. To immerse yourself in nature means to immerse yourself in the amazing works that God Himself has created.

Understanding Nature Helps to Understand God

Time and time again throughout the bible, Jesus uses parables to help us understand who He is. And many times, these parables are based around nature. Why? Because we are designed to live in nature, and thus, nature should be something we understand well. Jesus is helping us to understand Him by using nature, connecting the big ideas to something we should be very familiar with: our home.

When we spend time in nature intimately like one does on a homestead, these parables begin to become more clear. Take, for instance, the parable of the weeds among the wheat in Matthew 13. For a homesteader who grows their own food, visualizing this parable is much easier, and so, the meaning of it becomes that much more clear. Through homesteading’s reliance on nature, we can connect to God more deeply through scripture that uses nature to teach us.

Following Jesus’s Footsteps

Throughout the bible, Jesus can be seen going away into the wilderness to pray. As He faced his death, He went into the garden at Gethsemane to pray and connect with God. This is a really important thing to notice! The fact that Jesus chooses nature during his times of struggle can help teach us where we can go during our struggles too. By choosing nature as a place of refuge to pray in isolation, Jesus is able to be fully present with God, away from distractions and away from others. Nature is his place to fully connect to God and speak with him.

Hands-On Ways to Connect to God through Nature on the Homestead

Learning to connect to God through nature might take some time if you’ve been absent from nature for a while.

I remember getting an assignment in college to go to a spot in nature and just be present there. We were asked not to allow our minds to wander, just sit and observe. For someone whose brain is constantly moving and thinking, this was extremely challenging for me! My brain couldn’t stop focusing on what it seemed to think was important, and I had a hard time not getting lost in thought.

But as I forced myself to do this more and more, and as I learned to quiet those inner thoughts, I started really noticing the intricate details of the Earth. The world around us is alive and beautiful. It’s full of wonder. And when we have the chance to just be in God’s creation, it is there that we can find connection to the One who created it all.

Be Still and Observe

Find a quiet place to go and sit away from the noises of other people. Sit in this place and be still. Take a deep breath in through your nose, and exhale through your mouth. Focus your mind completely on what you are seeing. If your mind starts to build a narrative, change the words to describe what it is that you’re observing using your senses. Try using the phrases “I see”, “I hear”, “I feel”, “I smell” to guide your thoughts. An example might look like: “The leaf is moving in the wind. It wavers back and forth. I hear it whisper as the wind moves through it.”

Create a Nature Praise Journal

After you’ve sat and observed in the world, create an entry in a journal to help you process what you’ve witnessed. Use these phrases to help guide your thoughts and just allow yourself to write or draw what it is that comes to mind:

• I saw God today…
• I felt God today…
• God’s goodness was shown to me today through…
• I felt connected to God and His creation today when…

Try to See the Bigger Picture

When you’re working in your garden, allow yourself to think about the intricate details that have aligned for your garden to grow. The Earth not too far from the sun to be too cold, nor is it too close to the sun to be too hot. The sun shines and provides warmth and light. Rain falls to bring moisture back into the soil; the soil that is alive and built up with organic matter from other once living beings. It all comes full circle, and everything relies on each other. When you can notice this and see this in life, you can find yourself connecting to God, the maker of it all.

Connecting to God through Simple Living

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

1 Timothy 6: 6-10

Paul echoes the words of Jesus here in 1 Timothy as he reminds us of the dangers of seeking happiness through wealth rather than finding contentment with what we have.

In Matthew 6: 19-34, Jesus gives us an overview of how He believes we should be living here on this Earth, and everything about what he says focuses on a simple life filled with contentment with what you already have.

As modern day homesteaders, it can be easy to see what others are doing through social media and desire those things, too. We might see a homesteading friend purchase new field equipment, gardening tool, or maybe even something small like a new kitchen utensil. And then, we might let our minds wander to how much easier our own lives would be if we had that thing too.

But Jesus is clear that our focus should absolutely not be on those things. Instead, he instructs us to rely on God’s example of provision in nature. He reminds us that He is the creator of the Earth, and that He will provide us with what we need, just as He has provided the birds and the lilies.

¹⁹ “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

²² “Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. ²³ But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!

²⁴ “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.

²⁵ “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? ²⁷ Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

²⁸ “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, ²⁹ yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. ³⁰ And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

³¹ “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ ³² These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. ³³ Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

³⁴ “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

Matthew 6:19-34

The Homesteading Connection

When we are finally content with what we have, we can take our focus off of what’s the next best thing and instead focus on enjoying and being present in the world around us. Homestead life is all about getting back to the basics of life. It’s about living in the now while preparing for the future.  It’s finding joy in the simple tasks of daily living- joy in the first seedlings of spring, joy in the harvest season, joy for the beauty of fall, and joy in the beauty of the slowness of winter. 

By removing the drive for things and money, it’s easier to recognize these simple pleasures in nature and to connect to God through them. When we aren’t seeking the next best thing, we are able to see the abundance of gifts that God has given to us already. And with that contentment comes a deep gratitude and joy that brings us back full circle to the Father who gave it to us in the first place.

Hands-On Ways to Connect to God through Simple Living

I’ve written a whole post about finding happiness with gratitude, where I dive into strategies you can use to find contentment. It’s not always easy to be content, but we can trust that God will provide us with what we need to serve Him well.

Connecting to God through Animal Husbandry

Many homesteaders have animals that they are caring for. They may have a flock of chickens, raise pigs, have a herd of cattle, or even a flock of sheep.

Like the other ways mentioned to connect with God, tending to animals is also mentioned in the bible. Specifically, there is a lot of mention of sheep and taking care of them.

Using Animals to Form Perspective

As we take care of our own animals, we can learn a lot about God and our relationship with Him. Often, Jesus refers to Himself as the Good Shepherd, and as “the one who tends the flock”. We are not equal with God, and we aren’t always capable of understanding or choosing what’s best for ourselves.

I thought about this as I watched our cow come into the freshly bedded barn and immediately make it dirty with waste. And then, as if nothing has happened, the cow walks back outside.

So often, friends, we are the cow. God has given us everything we need to be happy, warm, and comfortable, and we do something to destroy or ignore the gifts that he’s given. In moments like those, I think about how God must be looking at us through His all-knowing eyes. I know what I’m thinking as I’m looking at the cow! Thank goodness that God is more forgiving and patient than I am.

Raising Animals Can Help Us Understand

Like nature, raising animals can help us understand scripture better, and thus, connect with God. If we understand what raising animals looks like, what being a shepherd means on a firsthand level, we are much more likely to connect more deeply with scripture, and through that, God.

Raising animals can help us develop a perspective of how our relationship with God needs to look like in order to be successful. As humans, we must trust God to take care of us and lead us, much like our livestock needs to trust us to care of them. And not only that- we must admit that we need to be led in the first place!

When we work firsthand with animals and try to lead them, we might be led with resistance, ignorance, or even rejection. The bible points our our similarities between our relationship with God and those of the animals. In order to be safe, taken care of, and happy, we must follow the leader, which in our case is God. The same holds true for animals.

Hands-On Ways to Connect to God through Animal Husbandry

As we care for our animals day in and day out, we can see and recognize difficulties that may arise as learning opportunities for us to explore our relationship with God. When difficult situations may arise, we can reflect afterwards by asking ourselves some reflective questions. While the animal can’t see the bigger picture, we can. Recognizing this in our own lives can help us to connect closer to God.

Reflections After Animal Interactions:

• When Animals Don’t Do As You Want: How have I turned away from God’s will? Where did it lead me? Help me remember what God has asked me to do is best for me.
• When Animals Run Away: How have I run away from God? Help me remember that I’m not seeing the bigger picture.
• When Animals Destroy Something: How have I destroyed God’s kingdom or place that has been prepared for me? What can I do to rectify that?
• When You Lose an Animal: Help me remember that we are all only here on Earth for a short while. Nothing is permanent. Everything is in balance according to God’s plan, even though we may not understand the plan ourselves. Death is part of living, but it isn’t the end of life.

More on Christian Homesteading

Looking to read more about how Christian values and how your faith can connect with homesteading? Check out these posts:

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT HOMESTEADING?

FIVE STEPS TO TAKE TO FIND PEACE IN CHAOS

WHY IS SIMPLE LIVING SO HARD IN TODAY’S MODERN WORLD?

HOW GRATITUDE CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE | FINDING HAPPINESS WITH GRATITUDE

SIX EASY STEPS TO LIVING A SIMPLE LIFE

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