Outdoor Truths

   For those of us who spend time outdoors, we get to see a lot of creatures and many of them would not exactly make it in a Field and Stream’s most beautiful animals list. I can actually remember the first time I shot a turkey and ran up to it. I was shocked by how ugly it really was. It really did have a mug that only a momma could love. And in my part of the country it’s not unusual to run into a possum scurrying about. They look like an over-grown rat that is slowly balding. The deeper south has their version that is covered with scales, called an armadillo. Or like we like to call them, moving speed bumps. (Sorry) And in the fishing world the gar is perhaps the strangest looking critter in the water (except for that time I caught what I thought was a fish and instead it was a waterdog (mudpuppy) that came walking toward me as soon as I got it to the bank. That one nearly scared the holy water out of me!) But all of this to say that nature has some strange, different, and ugly critters running about. And every part of the world has their own entry into this list of nature’s ugliest animals.

   As Charles Darwin studied different species he concluded that macro evolution must have taken place because (for one reason) many species were just so poorly designed. He actually concluded that if God would have made these certain species, He would have made them more efficient and thus since they were not made with this efficiency, life must have evolved. If we think about this conclusion we should immediately ask; “Mr. Darwin, how do you know what God’s purpose was when He made each creature? Was God’s goal in making each species only efficiency? Could He not have made a certain critter just for its own beauty? Even if that beauty was only appreciated by its own mother – and God?” It is not really science when one’s philosophy determines the outcome. And much of Darwin’s conclusions came as a result of his assuming he knew what God would do. Why am I telling you this?

   God has made each one of us unique. In some things we seem to use our design to it most effectiveness. In other areas we are constantly striving to reach potential. But it seems logical to think that if God had only wanted efficiency, He could have made robots. Instead He made us for His pleasure and designed us as the beautiful person He envisioned. So whether you or others think you are a possum, God thinks you are special. And while circumstances may have diminished your efficiency, God may have just made you with a little more splendor in mind. Either way, you were wonderfully created by a loving God who sees the beautiful you.