Early managers at Yellowstone National Park saw wolves as nothing but destructive predators. Between 1914 and 1926, at least 136 wolves were killed in the park, and by the 1940s wolf packs were nearly gone. A careful survey in the 1970s found no evidence of a wolf population there at all. Over time people came to understand how the whole ecosystem fit together. After years of study and a record number of public comments, 31 gray wolves from western Canada were brought to Yellowstone in 1995 and 1996. What had been driven out was invited back. Some things we push out of our lives, like the hard parts of obedience, turn out to be part of how God keeps us healthy.
Humpback whales live in every ocean and make one of the longest migrations of any mammal. Some swim 5,000 miles between warm breeding waters and cold feeding grounds. By the time commercial whaling was finally stopped, humpback populations had been crushed, most cut by more than 95 percent. In 1985 an international moratorium on commercial whaling took full effect, and according to NOAA it played a major role in their recovery. Today the species is increasing through much of its range, though four of its 14 population segments are still listed as endangered. The hunting stopped, and life came back. When God calls us to lay down something that harms others, healing often follows faster than we expect.
Augustine was a gifted teacher who had spent years chasing pleasure and wrestling with his sin. He later wrote about stealing pears as a youth just for the thrill of doing what was forbidden. One afternoon, troubled and anxious, he was walking in a garden when he heard a child’s sing-song voice repeating, “Take up and read.” Nearby lay a collection of Paul’s letters he had been reading. He picked it up and read the first thing his eyes fell on, Romans 13:13-14, which says to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and stop feeding the flesh. He later wrote that instantly “all the darkness of doubt vanished away.” One verse, read at the right moment, changed a life that changed church history.
The wood frog of the far north survives winter in a remarkable way. It freezes. Ice forms around its organs and between its skin and muscle. Its eyes turn white. Meanwhile its liver floods every cell with glucose, a sugary solution that keeps the inside of the cells from freezing. For the whole winter there is no muscle movement, no heartbeat, and no breathing. It looks like a little frog carved out of ice. Yet it is alive. When spring comes, it thaws from the inside out. First the heart starts beating. Then the brain wakes up. Finally the legs move. God’s renewal in us works the same way. He starts with the heart.
