One day while living in Africa, I sat under the shade of an ancient Baobab tree watching a herd of elephant bathe, drink, and enjoy the cool water.  The rainy season was still weeks away.  Except for the tropical lushness around the waterhole, the landscape was a canopy of amber.  Dust-devils swirled in the distance.  Heat waves caused distant herds of wildebeest to shimmer like an out of focus photograph.  Except for the chatter of nesting weaver birds, and an occasional grunt from a grazing animal, the earth was bathed in silence.

     Looking through my binoculars the waterhole treated me to an animal paradise.  Of course the elephant were the most obvious, but as I watched I started to notice other creatures as well.  What looked like a log was actually a crocodile sleeping with it’s mouth wide open while tick birds bravely walked in and pecked decayed flesh from between it’s teeth.  Three or four pygmy mongooses chased each other over a pile of rocks.  A short distance away, scarab beetles buried orange-sized balls of elephant dung after first laying an egg in its core.  Life around the waterhole was a stage of active harmony.

     As I watched, I recalled a Bible story about a man who gleaned much of his worldly and spiritual wisdom from God’s creation.  His name was Job.  Usually we remember him because of his sickness and long suffering.  But he was also one of the wisest men of his time.  He shared his secret of obtaining wisdom in the book bearing his name.  In Job 12:7,8 of the New Living Translation he said, “But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you.”

     This led to a lifetime of studying the habits and ways of nature, revealing many spiritual insights which have helped me better understand the ways of God and His plan for mankind.  Read on, I gladly share  these stories with you to freely use and enjoy! — Dave Hornberger