“The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion. . . . The Lord is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works.”
Psalm 145:89
In the last issue we left 120 million red crabs with a long trip ahead of them. They were ready to start on their annual migration from their forest homes.
In the dim light of early morning, the large male crabs start out ahead of the rest. The females and smaller ones - making up the biggest part of the huge number - will follow close behind. Everything is soaking wet from a heavy rainfall provided by a watchful Creator, and this suits the crabs.
Leaving the high forest area, they soon come upon homes in their way. Soon a girl’s screams might be heard as she awakens to discover a crab entangled in her hair. Meanwhile her mother might be awakened, hearing strange noises in the kitchen. Hurrying in the dim morning light, she finds half a dozen crabs crawling over her pots and pans. How did they get in? Someone had left the back door partly open to cool the house, and when the crabs came to the open door, they just walked right in. They will not turn to the right or left if there is an opportunity to go straight ahead.
In places where the edge of the forest ends at the top of high rocky cliffs, this doesn’t stop the crabs’ migration. Down they go, inch by inch, holding on to any supports they find as they creep downward. Soon the entire cliffside is solid red from the hundreds of thousands of crabs on it. Here and there some lose their grip or the stone they hold onto gives way. Down they plunge to their deaths. The others eventually reach bottom, followed by an endless mass of more crawling red.
At the bottom there are other hazards. A railroad track must be crossed. If a train comes by, those on the rails at that moment quickly meet a sad end to their journey. Also, regardless of how hot the steel rails have become in the sunlight, they keep on going. Many are burned on tender parts of their bodies as they crawl over the hot rails, and they also soon die. Next week’s issue will bring them to the end of their journey.
You might ask, “If the Lord God is watching over them, why does He let them die?” The answer is not that the Lord God does not care, for the verse above tells of His compassion and mercies over life’s trials. Adam’s sin in disobeying God in the Garden of Eden brought death into the world - to humans and all else. But Romans 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23) has a wonderful message: “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Have you accepted this loving gift of life?
(to be continued)
ML-04/09/2006