Crazy to think there was a time when dinosaurs ruled the earth. Especially T-Rexs like this bad boy. No one really knows how they and the triceratops, velociraptors, and the rest of the ‘gang’ ceased to exist. Maybe an asteroid obliterated them. Or, maybe they were hunted out by club holding prehistoric people whose vocabulary consisted of only one word, “UGH!” Or, maybe it was the mother of all volcanic eruptions. No one really knows… not even AI! We just know that dinosaurs are gone. See ya. Bye, bye.

To quote actor Jeff Goldblum playing the role of Dr. Ian Malcolm in the 1993 hit movie Jurassic Park, ‘Dinosaurs had their shot, and nature selected them for extinction.”

One correction, though. With all due respect to Dr. Malcolm, it wasn’t nature that chose to eradicate dinos, but God.

Interesting that those beasts of old did what they did based only on instinct. They viciously killed and ate each other… unless you were a herbivore (a vegetarian dino). They didn’t have a chance; the leaf eating creatures were just organic stakes ready to be munched on by the others. None of them survived! But man did even though he rationally did the wrong thing.

There is an explanation for man’s survival through the millennia, though. God’s mercy and grace!!!

God could have wiped us out a long time ago, but He chose not to. For example, the bible says that man disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden. You know the story, the pair on the ground ate from the forbidden apple on the tree.

The Lord had given man and woman everything they ever wanted: food, fun, each other. They only had to stick to God’s plan of not eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. But they disobeyed God and as a result He disciplined them and kicked them out of the garden.

The bible tells us what happened, “Then, the Lord God said… to the woman, “I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy, and in pain you will give birth. And you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.” And to the man he said, “Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return.” (Genesis 3:14, 16-19, NLT)

It was all bad news for Adam and Eve. Life was no longer going to be a ‘picnic’ (like in the Garden of Eden), but at least they were alive. Also, in grace God allowed the land to yield food for the man’s hard work. The Lord also allowed man to multiply.

The reason women go through such pain while giving birth to a little ‘bambino’ is a direct result of man’s sinful behavior at the very beginning of time. However, although there’s much pain involved, God blessed the woman with the desire to have more kids even though it pains her. That’s straight out mercy.

I’ve had several broken bones in my life and trust me, I don’t want to go through that kind of pain ever again. And yet, a woman can suffer a pain beyond that of a bone break and still be willing to go through it again. It’s all a God-thing. So God was merciful to the couple who betrayed Him.

The Lord could have kicked Adam and Eve out of existence, but He chose not to because God loves man and wants to redeem us.

Let me pause right here to remind you that God loves you very much. The Lord Jesus said in the Gospel of John, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:15, NIV)

Let’s get back to man… the survivor.

As time went by, ‘The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil.’ (Genesis 6:5, NLT). I read that and think, Ok, this is it! Man’s goose is cooked! But the bible says, “But Noah found favor with the Lord.” (Genesis 6:8)

You know the rest of the story, Noah built a huge ark (with the help of his sons and daughters in law, I’m sure). It took them a long time to get it done, but with God’s help, they did it.

Then one day a few raindrops were felt, then, a down pour, and then water was let loose… buckets of water coming down from the sky above and gobs of water eruptiing from the earth below. The flood! But Noah, his wife, his sons, their wives, and a bunch of animals were nice and dry inside the ark.

God could have wiped clean mankind from the face of the earth, but the Lord allowed man to survive. The bible says that when the waters finally receded, the ark rested on dry ground, and Noah, his family, and the animals exited the ark and repopulated the earth. Then, God painted a beautiful rainbow in the sky to remind Noah that He would never again destroy the living creatures of earth in such fashion.

Next time you see a rainbow, rather than thinking of water droplets and sunlight creating tiny, colorful prisms in the sky and, rather than wondering if there’s actually a pot of gold at the end of that rainbow, think of God’s promise of never flooding the earth again.

Let’s get back to why man survived while dinosaurs didn’t.

Man was already on thin ice with God. But it happened again. And once again, the grace of God rose to the occasion. The bible says that mankind got together and started a building project designed to reach the sky. The Tower of Babel. It was an act of insolence from mankind. But rather than blowing man off this sphere, God acted in mercy.

The bible says that God made the workers (architects, project investors, masons, cooks, water ‘go-fers,’ the ones told to ‘go-fer’ this and that) to speak different languages. The building project stopped because they became confused. Then they scattered throughout the earth (Genesis 11:1-9).

Picture it. Had I been there, it would have been like me, a Puertorican, trying to communicate and understand what my fellow worker is trying to tell me while speaking in mandarin Chinese.

The Tower of Babel became a dead end project.

So… where does this leave us? It leaves us with a thought of thanksgiving to the Almighty for preserving mankind. The reptiles didn’t make, but we did, thank the Lord. Thank God that you were not born as a reptile eons of years ago, but as a man in the image of God.

Also, beyond a sense of gratitude, you must know that God loves you. The bible says that our sins separate us from Him, but Jesus came into our world to die for our sins so we could enjoy life as God designed it. Jesus Christ is the door that gives you and me access to our Heavenly Father. If you have never asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins and be your Lord and Savior, now would be a great time to bow your head and ask God for His grace and mercy.

One more thing, know that God’s plan for your life is not just to survive but to thrive. You can achieve anything with the Lord’s help. Seek Him out and see what God does through you and for you.

Thanks for reading. Please leave me a reply with your thoughts. Also, please subscribe to my blog.

God bless you,

Jorge