DAILY DEVOTIONAL ✝️  

Will We Never Learn? 

in 1949 five cats were brought to the South African meteorological station on Marion Island to control a house mice problem. The mice had arrived on ships that were often in the area hunting seals.  The mice had no natural predators, so predators (the five cats) were introduced. 

 

There were also no natural predators for the cats,  so they did what cats do…they multiplied to about 3,400 by 1977.

 

They stopped hunting mice and instead killed an estimated 450,000 burrowing petrels (a native seabird) every year, completely wiping out the petrel locally.

 

So scientists released a feline virus in 1977, reducing their numbers, and followed up with an intense hunting and trapping program until the last cat was caught in 1991.  

 

Without cats to eat them, the mouse population surged by over 400%.  With little else to eat, the mice began attacking live seabird chicks, including wandering albatross chicks many times their size.  Marion Island became a classic textbook example of how removing one invasive species, without studying the whole food web, can trigger a new crisis. 

 

We humans are good at creating messes, sometimes at the expense of God’s other creations, and sometimes at our own expense. Will we never learn?

 

But scripture reveals a God who is much bigger than our stumbles.  Look at biblical figures like Abraham, Jacob, or David. They lied, panicked, took matters into their own hands, and flat-out messed with what God had outlined. Yet, their mess-ups did not override God's ultimate redemption. 

 

Proverbs 19:21 comes to mind…There are many devices in a man's heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.

 

Have you messed up a time or two (or three!). Don’t panic. God still loves you and has a plan for you. Read your bible.  Do what God says. Go to assembly! When you mess up, get up!~jme

 

THOUGHT  OF THE DAY:🤔 Belief cannot be compelled by violence~ John Locke