The psalmist exhorts us to “consider [God’s] heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars…” (Psalm 8:3). That means that we need to pay attention, to look into it closely, and carefully reflect on all that God has created, because the immensity of it should lead us to worship. Paul reinforces that idea when he says, “For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made,… (Romans 1:20).
The animal
world is a fascinating place to begin to “consider” the wonders of God’s
creation. For example the ostrich, a
flightless bird, can outrun a horse (Job 39:13). Then in Jeremiah 8:7 the prophet contrasts the
failure of people to know what God wants from them while the birds of the air,
such as the stork knows when to migrate and
have its young, as do the other birds.
The Arctic tern holds the record
for the longest distance covered by a migrating bird. It follows a zigzag course back and forth
across the Atlantic as it travels from Greenland
to the Antarctic and back again.
Researchers have come to the conclusion that these detours of several
thousand kilometres make perfect sense.
The birds appear to be following huge spiralling wind patterns in the
atmosphere and so avoids flying into the wind. “Why do they make
these long migrations? It is suggested
that it is because of the rich [polar] feeding grounds that they travel so
far.” (National Geographic)[1] These migrating birds also return to the same
areas each year, an incredible feat of navigation – an ability that God gave
them.
Arctic Tern
A lot of people are familiar with
the migration of the Monarch butterfly, but that isn’t the only one. The Chestnut Tiger butterfly seen in Japan Japan
to Hong Kong .
They travel northwards in the spring, and southwards in the autumn when
they lay their eggs.
Chestnut Tiger Butterfly
Some other
unusual facts about insects are that when cicada eggs hatch in trees the nymph
falls to the ground and digs in among the root of the trees and lies there from
twelve to sixteen years depending on the species before emerging to sing, mate
and die after a few weeks. We ask
ourselves, why? It is just another clear
pointer to the power and creative ability of God Himself. We will need more faith to believe that there
isn’t a Creator to explain the incredible variety that we see around us.
A cicada has just emerged from a nymph. Drying its wings
A few
examples of the wonders of God’s creation.
Yet the interesting thing is that, as Job points out, “But ask the animals,
and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you;….
that the hand of the Lord has done this” (Job 12:7-9). He gives water to all the beasts of the
field, the birds of the air nest by the waters, and He sustains man with bread
and water (Psalm 104:10-15).
Jesus told
those who followed Him, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of
them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father…. So don’t be
afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29, 31). Then again in Matthew 6, “Look at the birds
of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your
heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not
much more valuable than they?” (v.26)
This was what the psalmist was getting at in Psalm 8, when the Creator of
the world and all that is in it gave us a special place within his creation, so
much so that he says, “…what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man
that you care for him? You made him
ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet;” (v.4-6)
So if this is what the Lord has done for
us who are of more value than the animals and birds around us, then we can be
sure that we too will be cared for under the watchful eye of the Lord. We can rest assured that God who knows how to
care for His creation will also care for us.
We can believe that our Father knows what we need. So we are exhorted to “seek first his kingdom
and his righteousness, and all [the needful] things [for life] will be given to
you as well.” (Matthew 6:32-33). If God knows how to care for His
creation how much more will He care for us who are of more value than the birds
of the air and the flowers of the fields? (Matthew 6:28-30).
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