He will keep you safe

The last time I went on a sea trip from Norway to Denmark, I spent 2 nights on the sea. For the first time, I experienced what seafarers go through each day. At night, in the middle of the sea, the waves were boisterous and that tossed the very large ship back and forth. The sea was too dark and most people on board got sea sick. When we came out of the ship, I took another look at the ship. It was bigger than most of the ships I had ever been on. It was sturdy, it was well-made and looked very new. Yet, the ocean still made the ship feel like a toy floating on the waters. No matter how durable a ship is, we need to understand that on the high seas, anything is possible. Several years ago, a strong ship known as the Titanic had a major catastrophe. The makers and owners of this large ship were sure that even God cannot sink it. Yes, God did not sink it but an iceberg did.

Given these backgrounds, imagine travelling in an ark made with cypress wood and coated with pitch on boisterous waters for several months. In the 21st century, this might be considered a huge risk. In Genesis 6: 11-14, we are told that “the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.” With the detailed dimensions from God, Noah and his family committed several years to do everything just as God commanded him (‭‭Genesis‬ ‭6:22‬). Noah was commanded to enter the ark with his family and seven pairs of clean animals and a pair of unclean animals. So on this ark was a family of eight people and a whole bunch of all the animals on earth. This might have been a heavy load on this wooden ark.

Then the Lord shut him in. (‭‭Genesis‬ ‭7:16‬b)

After Noah and his family and the pairs of animals had entered the ark, the Lord shut him in (Genesis‬ ‭7:16‬). For forty days and nights the flood water kept coming on the earth. All the windows in heaven and on earth were opened and the waters from above and below wiped out every living creature on dry land that had the breath of life (Genesis 7:22). The only survivors were Noah, his family and the animals in the ark and as if that wasn’t enough, “the waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days” (‭‭Genesis‬ ‭7:24‬). Whenever I remember my two nights on the sea and compare it with a hundred and fifty days on a waterlogged earth with no landing, it scares me. Yet, Noah and every living thing in the ark were safe because God shut them in. They were kept safe in the dangerous waters of the flood. God delivered them from evil and destruction.

When we put our hope in God, we can be sure of His provision of safety. Safety isn’t promised on this earth. Infact, we are given safety measures almost everywhere we go. There was no escape nor safety plans for Noah because God Himself secured them. No matter where we find ourselves, we should be willing to commit our ways to the Lord. We should desire His provision of safety and his protection. With God in our boat, we can smile in the storms and the boisterous waves of life will not crush us. Like Noah, his family and the animals on board the ark, we will not be afraid of the terror by day and the tempest by night. For God will shut us in and keep us safe from evil.

Small but wise: consider the hyrax

The author of Proverbs made a profound statement about learning the wisdom of animals. Creation indeed teaches about life and the lifestyle of some animals points us to important lessons in life. King Solomon, the author of most of the book of Proverbs was the wisest king that ever lived. His quest for wisdom led him to receive wisdom from God to manage the affairs of His people. Wisdom is the principal thing according to king Solomon. He also recommends that we get understanding to navigate the wisdom (Proverbs 4:7). Why will Solomon use the wisdom of animals to teach important lessons of life? God has deposited in these animals specific traits that help humans to know and understand the intricacies of life. We considered the wisdom of the ant, and identified that ants make plans for the future. Let’s consider Proverbs 30:24-28:

“Four things on earth are small, yet they are extremely wise: Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer; hyraxes are creatures of little power, yet they make their home in the crags; locusts have no king, yet they advance together in ranks; a lizard can be caught with the hand, yet it is found in kings’ palaces.

Today, let’s consider the wisdom of the hyrax. Hyrax also known as coney is a small herbivore and mostly found in Africa and Arabia. Their bodies are compact, they have short tails, they are bigger than guinea pigs and share similarities with the rabbits. The hyraxes are very unique and their habitation is in the rocks. Yes, the rocks, and that account for the name rock hyraxes. Solomon says that “hyraxes are creatures of little power, yet they make their home in the crags” (Proverbs 30:26). By size, we might consider them less powerful to make their homes in the rocks. But these little creatures have learnt to survive in the crags! They have adapted and developed their survival strategies. What can we learn from the hyrax?

The first lesson we identify is the wisdom to navigate the rocks. For most little furry mammals, it is easier to live on trees or to burrow the soil and make their homes. Survival on the rocks takes wisdom to navigate and know the best escape route as other wild animals live on the rocks as well. Second, the hyraxes live in colonies and that helps in survival. Third, they do not sow dens but find shelter in existing holes in the crags so it is difficult to encroach on them. Further, they take advantage of their feet to maintain their grip on the rocks. Life is not easy for the hyrax but they take charge of the rocks (hard place for a small mammal), live in groups (for protection and provision), locate existing opportunities (holes in the crags) and make it their own. Finally, they gain stamina (their feet) and they thrive. 

When life takes you to the rocks, remember the hyrax. You can flee from the rocks, or you take advantage and make the rocks your own to turn your story around. 

The Creator does not want the earth empty!

I have heard of people complaining that the world is overpopulated. The Creator from the very beginning blessed the earth’s new tenants and told them to “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28). After the flood wiped away living things on the earth (Genesis 7), the same command of fruitfulness and multiplication was given, “Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it” (Genesis 8:17). The earth was created to be inhabited and for thousands of years, all living creatures have replicated themselves ensuring sustenance and preservation. Imagine if the last child was born a thousand years ago, I will not be here and neither will you be reading this post.

An American government research done in 2019 shows that “Americans are having fewer and fewer babies” and not “making enough babies to replace ourselves.” The expected number of births needed for the population is 16 percent below the number needed to keep the population stable without additions through immigration, the report finds. Similar situations have been reported in Europe and other continents. Recently, China lifted the one-child ban to ensure sustenance. In recent years, Western nations have relied on immigration to get enough workforce as their own populations dwindle. The current economic conditions, decline in childbirth rate and the desire to control births are some of the factors causing the decline in population. If developed countries continue to decline in numbers, their economic and political fronts would have to gradually rely on immigrants and descendants of immigrants for sustenance. So why should people complain about the world getting overpopulated when we need humans to keep the world going?

For this is what the Lord says— he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited— he says: “I am the Lord, and there is no other. (Isaiah 45:18)

Similarly, all other living things need to be fruitful and multiply. Animals, fishes, trees and every living thing stand the chance of extinction if we are not intentional about their replication, productivity and safety. Everything God made is important. The fierce lion and the slow sloth are all important in our ecosystem. The fact that an individual or another living creature does not directly affect us does not mean they are irrelevant. If we keep encroaching on animals, they will be extinct. If we keep attacking people and encourage actions that indirectly hinder growth, we will lose the diversity of our beautiful world. What does the Creator say about all these? Isaiah 45:18, “For this is what the Lord says— he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited— he says: “I am the Lord, and there is no other.” The Lord formed the heavens and the earth to be inhabited. Until the Lord returns, or calls us home in glory, the heavens and the earth should remain populated and inhabited. 

May the Lord grant fruitfulness to all His children and may we ensure fruitfulness in the other creation. 

The Creator and the bang!

I love science and scientific research. My academic journey has been based on investigating, analyzing and making empirical theories. However, one theory has never ceased to confuse me…the big bang theory of creation. It seems to lack authenticity and verification. It looks like a series of deconcatenated information. None seem to support the other. Let’s read this explanation from Wikipedia.

“The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from the earliest known periods through its subsequent large-scale form.These models offer a comprehensive explanation for a broad range of observed phenomena, including the abundance of light elements, the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation, and large-scale structure. The overall uniformity of the Universe, known as the flatness problem, is explained through cosmic inflation: a sudden and very rapid expansion of space during the earliest moments. However, physics currently lacks a widely accepted theory of quantum gravity that can successfully model the earliest conditions of the Big Bang.”

Can someone explain that to me? Who even caused the initial state of high density and temperature? This view of creation is being passed on to children at school and scientists keep forcing this theory to fit an unimaginable creation story. If the universe was not, and it came to being, then there is definitely a powerful Creator who brought all things together and arranged them uniformly. The uniformity of creation and the fact that humans are higher than animals shows that a standard was set at the beginning. Why don’t we walk with our heads? Why are the water bodies not in the sky? Who made the planets and arranged them in such a way that the Earth is at the right position from the Sun? Why don’t we live on Mars? Who placed the rings around Jupiter? Who gave life to humans? The Creator or the bang? Nehemiah has the answer to all these questions:

You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you. (Nehemiah 9:6)

When we understand that the heavens and even the highest heavens, the starry host (a zillion of them!), the earth and everything on it (including man,animals,vegetation, dragons, Behemoth etc.), the sea and all that is in them (including the fishes, the sea monsters such as Leviathan) were made by God, it helps us to appreciate the importance of worshipping God. Further, if there is a Creator, then there is accountability. The principle of accountability is even modeled on earth. No two goats are imprisoned for causing havoc, but humans, the custodians of creation are queried and sometimes imprisoned for acts that lead the world and other lives in danger. In the same way, just as there was a beginning (Genesis 1), there will be an end (Revelations). If it took the Creator only 7 days to succinctly arrange everything we see, it will definitely take Him a day to come back and make things right. If the Creator did not forget to create the different types of ants, then know that He definitely knows your name and He is watching. Make your ways right with Him now. 

When we journey through the Bible, it is so obvious that the Creator will come again. Read my post on a journey through the Bible here. 

God created all things

Some time ago, my brother called to ask me questions about Leviathan in the book of Job. I made time to discover the gigantic and ferocious creature. In fact in Job 41:9, God Himself told Job that any hope of subduing the Leviathan is false; the mere sight of it is overpowering. It is a gigantic sea serpent of a sort which had amazing strength and its presence scared people to the bone. It is also mentioned in the Psalms and Isaiah. Related to Leviathan, is another creature known as Behemoth (Job 40:15) whose bones are tubes of bronze and its limbs like rods of iron (Job 40:18). Genesis 1:21 states that “God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind and God saw that it was good. Both Leviathan and the Behemoth were made by God and He subdued them no matter how ferocious they were.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1‭)

What about dinosaurs? If dinosaurs really existed as we are told, then they couldn’t have popped up from nowhere. God made all things! He laid the foundation of the world and called all creation into being. In the beginning of time, God made everything. Genesis 1:1-2 informs us that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” No creation is unknown to God. He knows the anatomy of the very least creature. Genesis chapter 1 is a great place to start. Let’s look at some verses from Genesis 1:

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” (Genesis 1:3‭, ‬6‭, ‬9‭, ‬11‭, ‬14‭, ‬20‭, ‬24‭, ‬26 NIV)

If you are still in doubt that God made everything, take a look at yourself, who made you? 

All things were made by God and all things glorify Him. The Leviathan and Behemoth in their ferocious appearances also glorified Him. 

The wild animals honour Him!

One of my favourite geography TV shows as a child was Expedition to the animal kingdom. This show portrayed the lifestyles and the habitation of different animals. As a child, the only way I could see these animals was to watch them on TV. Thankfully, as an adult, I have visited different zoos and been to a Safari. Seeing the animals live makes a whole difference as compared to watching on TV. Sometimes, I really wish we could understand the shouts, grunts, howl, squeak, bark, etc. of the animals. Watching animated shows with my kids makes it easier! I see the lion talk, sing and dance. As funny as this may sound, I believe the animals have their own lifestyles and singing and dancing may be incorporated in their shouts and movements. Anyway, the next time I go to a Safari, I will ask an expert!

The wild animals honour me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen. (Isaiah 43:20)

Is it not fascinating to know that God took time to make all the different species of animals and decorated them with different attitudes and appearances? Have you taken a closer look at a jackal? At first sight, you may think that it is a wolf, or a fox or even a domesticated dog. If you can buy a chiwawa and keep it in your home as a pet, it will be impossible to buy a jackal from the wild and keep it home! However, both the chiwawa and the jackal are God’s creation. The chiwawa is domestic and the jackal is a wild animal. In the book of Isaiah 43:20, we see that the wild animals honour God. The jackals and the owls in the wilderness are provided with water  and the wasteland has streams. In the ferocious wild, the animals are still cared for by God. He sustains them with what they need. Some of the animals living on deserts have anatomical features that allow them to go without water for months. Is that not amazing! So you see why God is honoured even by wild animals. 

Understanding that both humans and animals have a role to play in worshipping God should change our attitudes towards creation. First, only God deserves our worship. Second, we should not worship creation (trees, animals, water bodies, rocks etc.). Thirdly, we should be mindful not to harm the creation. If we consider the effects of our actions on the atmosphere, the earth, the water bodies and the animals in the wild, we will become more caring and less harmful. The wild animals are not our enemies. They are God’s creation and they have been kept in their habitats because that is where they can thrive. They can honour God in their natural habitats and they are well taken care of by their Maker. We shouldn’t encroach on their habitation and cause these animals to go extinct. As you raise your hands in honour to God, know that the wild animals are doing the same. Their appearance, their tenacity, their hunting skills, their ferocious appearances and their ability to survive in the Wild is because God takes care of them. Allow them to thrive so they can honour their Maker!

The heavens declare His glory

My Junior High School days were quite memorable. One of the organizations I joined was the Wildlife club. I remember I took part in quiz competitions about animals and wildlife conservation. The experience with the Wildlife club made me appreciate nature and the works of God. Getting to know that the diversity in the Wild came about as a result of an orchestrated effort of the Creator to create a beautiful world gave me reasons to be a keeper of God’s creation. However, I also grew up among people who had no regard for nature. In fact, indiscriminate felling of trees, pervasive hunting for wild animals and encroachment lead to the destruction of many natural habitats. Until we realize the need to be custodians of nature, we will continue to demonstrate hostile attitudes that could possibly trigger the destruction of the plants and animals.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. (Psalms 19:1)

How is God’s glory demonstrated through nature? Does God really care for plants and animals? Do we have any responsibility over nature? Must we care for nature? These and many other questions will be discussed in this month’s blogs. If nothing fascinates you about nature, just look through your window, look at the sky. Can you see the sun, or the moon or the stars? Can you see the clouds? Are they not fascinating? The Psalmist (Psalm 19:1-5) saw the awesome work of God and proclaimed that “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course.” 
The different seasons, morning, afternoon and evening are all revealed by the skies. When we see dark clouds gather we know that it will be raining soon. 

God’s magnificent glory is revealed in the works of His hands. As stewards of God’s creation, we should be considerate to preserve everything that has been made. Air pollution, bush fires etc. can distort the beauty of the heavens and put both humans and animals at risk. Harmful gases that are released into the atmosphere not only disturb the beauty of nature, but have given rise to respiratory infections that have taken lives. You don’t have to be in government to do your part in safeguarding nature. Little attitudinal changes will help prevent disasters. We have been given a beautiful world, and videos and images from space have given a glimpse of the splendor and the perfection of God’s glory revealed in nature. Let’s be conscious of our actions so that by the time we leave the world, others will still have the opportunity to behold the wondrous works of God.