In 2019, the California Academy of Sciences released a list of 71 new species that had been discovered that year.
This list included 17 types of fish, 15 geckos, six sea slugs, four eels and two lizards.
I find it fascinating that we are still finding new creatures. Since 2010, the academy has discovered 1,375 previously unknown species, and the article I read stated that “Biodiversity scientists estimate that more than 90 per cent of Earth’s species are still unknown”.
If that is true of the physical world which we know so well, what might that say about the spiritual world, about which we know so little? When I read scripture, I realize that there is more going on than what I see, know or expect.
After Joseph’s brothers turn on him and sell him as a slave, God continues to work in his life to give him opportunities that he never would have had otherwise. After Joseph saves the entire known world from a famine, he is reunited with his brothers and reassures them that, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good” (Genesis 50:30).
Moses is tending his father-in-law’s sheep on a day that is just like every other day, when God breaks in and says, “I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt” (Exodus 3:10).
Jesus’ death on the cross looked like a defeat, but, in truth, it was the moment of victory. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24).
If my life depends on me being good enough, smart enough, and strong enough to make the right decisions and do the right things, I am in big trouble. However, when I understand that there is more going on than what I see and that God is at work in ways I do not understand, then I can trust that even unpleasant events can be used for my good.
Jesus once said, “My father is always at his work” (John 5:17).
Therefore, anything can happen.
