August 24, 2021 – Click here to listen
I arrived in Alaska and as always was in awe of this beautiful state. We drove down to Seward from Anchorage and stopped at various snow-laden mountains, glaciers, and crystal clear streams and other scenic spots along our route.
One stop was at an observation point for spawning salmon. It was a small creek and hundreds of salmon were spawning in it.
For those of you who don’t know, the salmon lays its eggs and the males fertilize then and then the eggs are covered up in the stream bed by the fish fanning gravel over them. They guard them as best they can, but the adults are so weak from the long arduous journey that they die soon after spawning.
Their lives are perilous from beginning to end. Ravenous fish such as rainbow trout, arctic char and other species attempt to find the eggs and gorge on them gaining tremendous weight and size in the process.
The young salmon that hatch will fight their way through a variety of predators to reach the ocean where they grow very large and in a few years they too will make their way back to the exact same place of their birth to spawn and then having served their purpose will die.
When they have grown large in the ocean and it is their time to spawn, they leave the sea and fight their way back to their place of their birth inland in rivers and streams, sometimes traveling 500 or more miles working their way upstream through strong currents and waterfalls and hordes of predators including whales, bears, sea lions, seals, sea otters and bigger fish to lay their eggs and perpetuate the species.
As I watched them. I thought of how hard they had to struggle to make it this far. I wondered how in the world they remembered how to find their way to their birthplace. Then I thought that the Lord simply equipped them with His very own GPS – (God’s Protection System). He installed the same thing in birds. We viewed many marshes where ducks and other species were preparing to fly south for the winter.
All of nature is a wonder. I ponder it and wonder. God has everything in order and has designed His creation to work in total harmony. One might think, Aww . . . those poor salmon, but bears and other species have to prepare to perpetuate their species as well. They have to put on huge layers of fat prior to hibernation and the spawning salmon provide it. Everything works in harmony.
The human struggle seems more chaotic. Disgraced Lucifer fights for our souls and seems to win a few more than we would like. Like the spawning salmon however, those who persevere make it through life and serve their intended purpose in spite of his predatory attacks. Life can be a struggle, but God has installed His GPS in us as well. We may not have a built-in homing instinct, but we do have a soul and God has given us the innate ability to recognize that there is a God, and we can rely upon His strength in all that we encounter. Our strength comes from none other than Jesus Christ. Call on Him to help us in this dangerous journey of avoiding the predator Satan and the trials and tribulations of this life brought on by him until our purpose is fulfilled. We can also help others in their struggle. Consider this wise proverb:
Proverbs 24:10
If you faint in the day of distress, how small is your strength! Rescue those being led away to death, and restrain those stumbling toward the slaughter . . .