I grew up in the country and with woods nearby to explore there were
endless opportunities to discover all creatures great and small. Many days I
would head out the door with nothing more than a canteen of cherry Koolaid, bug jar, and a
good digging stick to see what I could unearth.
My mother would always yell after me,
“Have a good time honey, but be careful, and be home way before dark. Don’t go
past the Huntington property. And, oh hey Brenda?” Brenda? BRENDA!!!”
“WHAAAAAT?” (I know, I should have gotten a whippin’ for that response,
if Dad were nearby to hear I would have.)
“Watch for snakes and brown recluses!! If you don’t know what it is, just
leave it alone!”
“Okaaaay.”
It was during these treks that God would speak to my heart, most clearly of
His existence, because I knew deep inside there was a God. (Every person is born
with this intuitive knowledge to seek Him, and He is not far away from any of
us. Romans Chpt. 1 & 2).
I marveled at His awesome creation and wondered how He thought up each one.
(No human imagination could outdo His mind. Oh we can copy, and mutate off
of His originals but man kind does not have the ability, authority, or power to
create even a single blade of grass. Every living thing is regenerated
and multiplied “according to “it’s kind” and comes from seeds that God first created. Read Gen. Chpt. 1)
Just the soft blue sky, light breezes, and rays of sunshine streaming through the trees mesmerized me, and kept my attention for hours.
I listened to the variety of birds, all singing different tunes, but somehow
coming together in harmony. I could sense the nearness of Gods presence during
those quiet times.
(“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the
nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” Psalms 46:10)
Then.
“OUCH!!!”
Well, beautiful thoughts about our Creator were rudely interrupted as a
sharp blood sucking needle pierced tender skin.
“Stupid mosquito!!!!”
My mind is suddenly jolted back as I am reminded of the hostile environment
that we live in. I quickly scanned my surroundings for
those snakes, and deadly spiders Mom warned about.
On these outings I might watch battles to the death
between wasp and spiders.
I witnessed the carcasses of bugs being torn apart by colonies of ants. Studied
the bones of dead animals, and heard those same song birds cry out in distress while
trying to defend their nest against predators.
I myself suffered stings, bites, cuts, bruises, scraped knees, falls,
sprains and heart pounding fears in “normal” childhood experiences.
As many people do, I started questioning God. Why? Why must being alive hurt
so much?
And of course, as I grew older I understood that there were different levels of
suffering but still … why?
Then in 1996 I was born again (made alive and brand new through Christ) and
reconciled back to God in the Spirit. And baptized in His Holy Spirit several years
later, that is when Jesus started teaching me through the Bible what has
happened. Not all, but many of my questions have been answered through His Holy
Spirit and the absolute truth of His word.
Things are not evolving, but de-evolving from the pristine conditions that
God created us in.
Let’s face it, the natural course of things are not going from bad to good,
but always from good to bad, and new to old.
This is the result of the fallen nature that our world is
subject to now.
Creation did not start out as bad, and death did not exist. When sin was
introduced into the world through the deception of Satan, it infected EVERY
living thing on the face of the earth. (“The wages of sin is death.” Rom. 6:23)
Man’s core nature became evil. Animals started attacking and de-evolving to defend and feed themselves and this trickled down to every living creature.
Nature placed here by God to be helpful, and beautiful turned on man, just as
man turned on man.
Knowledge and self awareness may be escalating but when human kind cut
itself off from God, we became spiritually dead, and alienated ourselves from the life in
Him that He created us for. (“All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that
was made.” John 1:3
“Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this
age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world
is foolishness with God … ” 1 Cor. 3:18-21)
The Bible teaches us that when God created the world He saw to it that we
would have the perfect, safe environment to live in.
So, instead of forming our own opinions about God and trying to guess “WHY”,
get to know Him through His Son Jesus Christ and the Bible, all we can and need
to know in this lifetime is all written down.
Technological advances are not bad, just give God all the glory.
Because when God first created the earth He made sure that … “it was
good.”
So it only fitting that man needed to invent mosquito spray.
And I am so grateful to God for that.
(P. S. Gen. Chpt. 1:29-30 also explains that man and beast were not created to
be meat eaters. Though I so enjoy a juicy cheese burger or tender steak!)
Contact Brenda Groves at: bkgroves1996@yahoo.com
