The Bluegill and the Arrowhead

My good friend Paul and I usually meet on Sundays for coffee and fellowship. I look forward to our time together sipping coffee and chatting about life. One Sunday he suggested going out into the desert to a place where he occasionally goes to spend time alone with the Lord.

After about a 15 minute walk down a dry creek bed, we separated and both of us found a place to spend time communing with the Lord. On our walk back I saw a small pool of water with a bluegill struggling to survive. The small bluegill was fighting hard. I had my empty coffee cup and I decided to scoop it up to see if I could help.

When I got home I immediately went back out and bought a small fish tank. I lined it with some rocks which included some rocks from a paleo site here in Arizona. If you’ve read my other posts you know about my love for fossils and rocks.

For almost three weeks in the fish tank the bluegill never ate. I tried all sorts of food but not one bite in three weeks. However, surprisingly, it seemed like it was getting stronger and when I noticed some blue returning to its gills I decided it was best to release it into a lake.

When I came home I decided to clean out the fish tank. I dumped all the rocks in a plastic strainer and began to rinse them off. I noticed that the paleo rocks had gotten soft and were dissolving and turning into mud. After a good rinsing, to my shock, there was an arrowhead in the strainer. Incredibly, an arrowhead had been inside one of the rocks. I always wanted a real arrowhead. Considering all the variables in this story this was truly something special.

I used to say to myself that I was the rock of Gibraltar. It was just me and God and I didn’t need anyone else. People, especially those who called themselves Christians, would disappoint me and I decided it would be better without them. However we do need each other and God helps refine our lives through other people whether we like it or not. He designed life that way.

The paleo rock with the arrowhead could have sat on my shelf for years without me ever knowing what was inside. God melted my rocky heart to reveal something beautiful – what’s inside you rocky heart that needs to be released? With so many variables I know the Lord had His hand in this fish story. Perhaps you think it silly but I know that Jesus is the master of setting up events in our lives to bring out the beauty in all of us. He uses each of us to do so, this was just an example.