27 January

THE COMPLETENESS OF GOD’S CREATION (2)

“And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good…” (Genesis 1:31)

Are pests also very good? Sometime ago, Lassa fever spread rapidly through our dear country, Nigeria. The press reported that as many as seventeen states of the Federation were affected. Rats are the agents of transmission of this deadly disease and I wondered what their role in God’s ecosystem was.

Rats are known as pests. They cause huge losses to man by gnawing food, furniture, wires, etc. and are disease-carriers, causing plagues such as the Lassa fever. Again I wondered: Why did God create rats?

The African giant pouched rat is used to sniff out landmines. Dogs are too heavy and set the mines off. The rats, however, are light enough to detect the mines, without setting them off, and then the bombs can be detonated. Wow, a very important role!

In medical research, rats are used as models for human diseases. They are currently being used for tests in the new vaccine being developed for breast cancer. Hurrah! Rats are also invaluable in research for treatments of various diseases and disorders, such as insomnia, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, etc. Wow, thank you, Lord, for creating rats!

We glorify God who created all things for a purpose and for His pleasure. Definitely, being created in the image of God, we have a higher purpose and have to be where and how God desires at His time, to fulfil our purpose.
I remember the refrain from Cecil Alexander’s Hymn which we sang a lot as children:

All things bright and beautiful,

All creatures great and small,

All things wise and wonderful:

The Lord God made them all.

ACTION: What are the seemingly “insignificant” things that God has placed in your life?

PRAYER: Lord, teach me to pay close attention to the “small prints” in your Word. Amen.