The last time I went fishing it was a magnificent day with calm winds and water that was so beautiful my best descriptor for it would be “stunning”. I was about forty miles offshore when I spotted something floating in the water. I motored over to see what it was and when I arrived I saw a beautiful gull sized sea bird softly floating on its back.
It was obvious to me that it had only recently died. Its black tipped wings and brilliant white body provided a striking contrast to the cobalt blue waters of the Gulf Stream. The bird’s bill was sharp-pointed and powerful looking and ideal for catching small fish. The coloration of the bird’s beak was a gorgeous, vividly brilliant orange coloration.
I could not get that bird off my mind for much of that day and even woke up this morning thinking about it. Birds are an offshore fisherman’s best friend. We rely on birds to let us know where the fish are feeding. When fish tear into large schools of baitfish, hundreds of them hover over the little fish frantically diving into the water and trying to steal a few scraps left over from the feeding frenzy below, or perhaps even catch a baitfish of their own as it goes flying through the air trying to escape the slaughter beneath. We look for birds with binoculars and even radar and when we see them dive bombing down to the surface of the ocean we know that fish are feeding below, and we make a mad dash to get over there and start casting to them. I love sea birds.
I scooped the bird out of the water and as I motored along I was high up in the boat tower wondering what had happened to this magnificent creature. Did it die of old age? Did it get caught in a storm? Was it sick? Did it have a heart attack? Why did such a beautiful creature have to die? Hmmm
I thought of the verse in the Bible that states that a bird cannot fall to the ground without God seeing it. God knows what happened to that little bird, but I can only wonder. Like so many things in life, it will necessarily remain a mystery for now for which only God currently has admittance.
This opened my thinking to the additional untold vast myriad of mysteries that God has NOT chosen to reveal to us. The Bible reveals a mind-bending amount of information that God wants us to know about Himself, His Son Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and His creation via the Bible but beyond what He has provided there, we can only wonder in quiet reflection.
All Christians have unanswered questions. I think it is a useless exercise to drive oneself batty wrestling with impossible questions for which there will not be an answer forthcoming. I hated to see that little bird lying there on its back dead and I wonder even this morning why it had to die. Why couldn’t it go on living forever?
In the end we must have faith in the goodness of God and the perfection of Him and His creation. Beautiful creatures are born, live but for a moment (as compared to eternity), and then the burst of life-giving energy expires. God has however created us, His children, with a spirit that will live on forever. Why? I think it will be marvelous to spend some time with Jesus talking to Him of such things and asking Him directly.
As for now we just get a snippet or two here and there like this one from King Solomon.
Ecclesiastes 3:1
For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up. A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones together; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing; A time to seek, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to cast away; A time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak; A time to love, And a time to hate; A time for war, And a time for peace. What profit has he who works in that in which he labors? I have seen the burden which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their hearts, yet so that man can’t find out the work that God has done from the beginning even to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice, and to do good as long as they live. Also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy good in all his labor, is the gift of God. I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; and God has done it, that men should fear before him. That which is has been long ago, and that which is to be has been long ago: and God seeks again that which is passed away. Moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of justice, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was there. I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.” I said in my heart, “As for the sons of men, God tests them, so that they may see that they themselves are like animals.