It takes a lot of faith to be an atheist. One must believe in the impossible. The evidence of God’s omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence in all things great and small is overwhelming. Consider just one of millions of observances that is inexplicable other than through the Creator. I reference the bluebird. Animal instinct cannot have developed through any kind of random evolution theory. That is inherently obvious in the bluebirds nesting in my back yard.

A few years ago, Linda and I ordered one of those little bird houses that sticks on the outside of a window. The bird house has no back wall, so we can observe the nesting and hatching process from inside our house. Each spring, a bluebird couple arrives and begins fluttering around the yard. In just a few days, we start seeing them busily carrying little twigs to the bird house and arranging them neatly into a perfectly crafted nest. Soon, we wake up to a few little blue eggs in the nest. Then, we watch for several days as the plainly feathered mama sits dutifully on the eggs while her brightly feathered hubby brings her periodic helpings of worms and bugs. Mamma leaves her nest only for short periods for water and a little fresh air. Daddy never leaves the back yard, but is constantly foraging for food or just standing guard in a nearby tree.

We celebrate with the proud couple when we peak through the glass to see a few of the eggs cracked open and tiny naked babies appear with beaks open wide. For the next several days, mamma and daddy alternate in bringing the babies worms and bugs pureed in their mouths and deposited in the babies’ wide open begging mouths. Gross, but sweet. We witness the babies grow little feathers until one day we find the nest empty. The parents have released them to the challenging environment of the natural world. Sometimes this process is repeated once or twice over the summer months. All this is exhilarating to observe, but the greatest fascination is in pondering the miracle of it all.

These bluebirds get no education or training in marriage and procreation. They have little or no capacity for logic or deductive reasoning. Everything they do is driven by a mysterious inner “voice” that we humans call animal instinct. Webster defines instinct as, “a largely inheritable and unalterable tendency of an organism to make a complex and specific response to environmental stimuli without involving reason.” This instinct is what causes certain fouls to go south for the winter, spiders to build artistic and symmetrical webs, ants to engage in intricate construction projects, and water turtles newly hatched on land to crawl immediately toward a distant body of water. It is what compels the bluebirds to prepare an architecturally correct nest to support the babies they somehow know are coming. It makes the mamma sit on eggs for days. And it tells the new parents what and how to feed and water their offspring. It assigns the daddy to be ever-present as protector of his family. It appoints the time to kick the little ones out of the house.

So, what is this enigma called instinct in animals. Author Randy Alcorn suggests that non-human animal instinct is the “soul” God puts in every animal. It is not like the human soul that lives eternally and in which the Holy Spirit dwells. But, like the human soul, God’s Spirit indwells the soul of animals to direct them above their level of consciousness. How else could animals do these supernatural things? Humans are created in the image of God to posses logic and reason which guide our actions in coordination with Him. We humans don’t need, and therefore don’t possess, animal instinct. The Spirit of God in us works through our heart, mind, and spirit to guide us on a much higher plain than that through which He guides animals. There is absolutely no other explanation for what drives natural animal behaviors other than through the power of God instilled in every animal of His creation.

So, when I watch my bluebird family, I am enjoying a worship experience of seeing the undeniable hand of Almighty God. It is everywhere!

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. Romans 1:18-20.