I had a moving worship experience last week. I was not inspired by a majestic hymn or spirited praise song. I wasn’t touched by a thought-provoking Bible lesson. In fact, my worship service didn’t take place in a church building. I worshipped after watching a documentary on the BBC about animal life in the desert. The sixty-minute television program featured a fascinating segment about how sandgrouses survive in the desert. Sandgrouses are a little-known species of birds about the size of a small pigeon with sturdy, compact bodies weighing about a pound.

I was captivated to learn how sandgrouses care for their young and manage to survive in the barren wilderness where there is no water. When their baby chicks are hatched, the male sandgrouse flies as far as sixty miles to find water for his offspring. Once he arrives at a watering hole, he quickly drinks for himself and then risks his life to pack up sufficient water to take back to the nest sixty miles away.

For several minutes the father sandgrouse sits in the pool soaking up enough water to supply essential hydration for his baby chicks. And get this…he has in his breast especially designed feathers that, somewhat like a sponge, absorb and retain moisture. While sitting, soaking in the pond, large predatory birds often swoop down and attack and devour any sandgrouse that becomes too casual, so he must be alert to the need to quickly escape at all times.

After several minutes of absorbing water in his unique feathers, the male sandgrouse takes off toward his nest carrying as much as ¼ of his body weight in liquid. Once back home the father gently settles in the nest allowing the baby chicks to suck his feathers and receive enough moisture to sustain them one more day. The male sandgrouse repeats that journey every day for two months until the little ones are mature enough to fly to the watering hole on their own.

After witnessing that documentary, I worshipped the Creator more than I do in most praise songs. Even though I was watching television by myself I burst out-loud, “We serve a magnificent God!” He cares enough for the tiny birds of the air, birds that most humans never even see, to design special feathers that can absorb and retain water for a sixty-mile flight. Indeed, “The heavens declare the glory of God!”

If you wonder for a moment if this complex universe exists by chance, ask yourself, “How could the sandgrouse possibly be an evolutionary accident?” Without those especially designed feathers, none of its offspring would survive. How could a bird possibly develop unique sponge-like feathers over hundreds of years, if the chicks don’t survive? And what’s the possibility that the male of the species would, by chance, develop the instinct and the will to fly such a tedious, risky mission every day? How can anyone consider the complexity of our world and not see the intricate design of a most brilliant Creator?

The Bible says that unbelievers “suppress the truth by their wickedness since what may be known about God is plain to them because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse” (Romans 1:18-20).

Sing with me:

O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur,

And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.
Then sings my soul,
my Savior, God, to Thee,

How great Thou art! How great Thou art!
Then sings my soul,
my Savior God, to Thee,
How great Thou art! How great Thou art!
.

Follow BobRussellKY on Twitter and LIKE the Bob Russell page on Facebook