Sara J. Mikkelson
From far away, the two short stacks of rocks, sitting precariously on top of the mountain, looked like they had been put there by someone. As we hiked closer to the “Crab Eyes” rock formation, I started to realize just how large those boulders are. No way could a person stack them. The next day, we hiked to place where massive boulders were piled at the base of a mountain. Gaps between (and under) these boulders created a network of above-ground caves, large enough for people to explore. Climbing through the pile of huge rocks, I would often look up at the two large boulders still perched atop the mountain. Those two rock formations are called the “Apple and Pear”, because people thought they looked like fruit. I thought about what would happen if those rocks fell to meet their companion boulders that I was climbing on at the time. While I enjoyed looking at those balanced, fruit-like rocks, the thought of personally experiencing a piece of them was not so appealing.
Delicately balanced rock formations like the “Crab Eyes” or “Apple and Pear” that I saw at Wichita Mountain Wildlife Refuge can be seen in many different places. I’ve written about “Balanced Rock” at “Garden of the Gods” in Colorado Springs and some of the formations at Colorado National Monument, including the “Kissing Couple” (read about those rock formations here). The famous Natural Arches National Park in Utah is very similar to these balanced boulders. Seeing these dramatic rocks that almost seem to defy laws of nature, people often ask how they got there. Evolutionists will try to tell you that they are evidence of erosion over long ages of time, and they’re right about erosion, but wrong about how long it took because they leave out the catastrophic results of the global flood.
Last week, I wrote of how the Wichita Mountains were formed during the Biblical global flood, just a few thousand years ago (read that article here). Since these mountains formed early in the flood, they are very well-weathered by erosion. The chemistry of the waters, harsh weather after the flood, natural crystallization patterns, and movement of the rock layers are all factors that were probably involved in how these rock formations came to be. Since water expands when it freezes, water that got trapped in small cracks in the rocks would spread the crack farther apart as it froze during the “ice age” conditions that naturally followed the global flood. As those cracks became deeper and wider, the rock around our special formations broke away and fell as boulders below. Hiking right below “Crab Eyes”, I found one of these cracks large enough for me to walk into. In other places, I had to be very careful not to step into one of these cracks.
Even if you’ve seen balanced boulders many times over or seen them in different places and studied how they are formed, the question, “why?” may still echo deep inside. Why here instead of ten feet over? Why this shape instead of another? Perhaps each of these distinctive rocks could be traced back to one crack, strong point, or weak point in a rock layer, once upon a time. The question could still remain – why this crack here and that strong point over there? Instead of coming up with a list of mathematical probability relationships and hypothetical scenarios or philosophy, perhaps the question of “why” is best answered simply by the sovereignty of God. The same Divine Artist that used science to sculpt these beautiful rock formations and set them in the perfect place to bring Him glory is the One Who is beautifully sculpting you and sets you in just the right places to fulfill the purposes He has for you to bring Him glory. I can’t always explain exactly why He chooses to place me where I am or sculpts me in such a way, but I can say that I know Him and trust Him. Like these odd rocks, you, too, can be a monument to the sovereignty of God.
