How’s life treating you these days?  A question often asked that means “How are you doing?” For some, life seems to be getting the upper hand; meaning that your existence here on earth is not going as you want it to be going. It often seems as though we’re fighting against the current of life. You may have even asked yourself the question “If God wants me to be here, why is my life so hard?”

Life is for sure a struggle; it has been that way since the fall. Even Job’s friend Eliphaz stated this obvious fact.

“For affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble sprout from the ground, but man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.” Job 5:6-7

Life is hard because of sin. This is a fact that almost every Christian would agree with. But with that being said, how does one live a life fulfilled, even when you are fighting against the current?

The simple answer; do what you were created to do.

On the island of Hawai’i, there are many waterfalls. One, in particular, is the Akaka Falls. Flowing from the Kolekole stream, The Akaka Falls drops over 442 feet down and eventually flows out to the sea. It is a beautiful experience of God’s creation, but there is more to the Akaka Falls than what meets the eye. Behind its cascading curtains of freshwater is another miracle of God, a three-inch fish called the “o’opu alamao’o”. This tiny fish lives in freshwater streams in the tropical climate of Hawaii, but soon life gets really challenging for the “o’opu alamao’o”.

The start of its life is considered to be normal for a “fish’s beginnings.  Eggs hatch within two to three days of being laid and are swept down the 442-foot waterfall and then carried to the ocean with the current. They have four days to reach the ocean or the larvae will not survive. Once they reach their juvenile stage in the ocean they start their return to their spawning grounds, up the river, and the falls. The very unique thing about this fish is that God has created it to overcome this huge challenge; it climbs its way back up the waterfall! Yes, it climbs, with a sucker and its pectoral fins. This remarkable creation of God, despite the daunting task, climbs 442 feet up the rocks behind the cascading sheets of water to spawn, glorifying God who created it. So what were you and I created to do? According to God’s word, we were created to glorify our creator-God. 

Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. (Psalm 100:2-3)

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. Psalm 139:14

So know this, that even when life looks as daunting as a 442-foot waterfall and you feel as small as a three-inch fish, God has created you to praise him as you make it up the falls.