There are only a few places in the world that make you feel as small and insignificant as when you are standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon. As you stare down at the Colorado river your mind struggles to comprehend the grandeur of those majestic cliffs and sandstone spires. How was this formed? How could that little river create a chasm that is a mile deep, 18 miles wide, and 277 miles long?
Our family recently visited the southern rim of the Grand Canyon National Park while on vacation. We decided to go away from the crowds so we turned east at the entrance and stopped at one of the trailheads. We met people who had come from all over America to witness the second most visited national park in the country (the first is the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee). We had brought along some bikes, so we had the privilege of cycling along the most picturesque path I have ever biked on.
After we were done biking, we stopped and listened to a tour guide give an explanation about the Grand Canyon. She said, “The Canyon was formed over millions of years. The river slowly carved away at the limestone until it created the canyon we see today. The canyon is still expanding 15 inches every year. Water is not the only way the canyon grows. It also changes from wind, tree roots, and rocks that fall down the cliffs.”
I was listening with my dad, wife, and kids. The adults kept giving each other quizzical glances as the tour guide continued her monologue. At the end of her evolutionary explanation she said, “Can you believe that?” I couldn’t keep my mouth closed any longer. I uttered a quiet “No!” and my dad said, “I’ve got to hand it to her. She has more faith than I do! It would take more faith to believe what she said than what the bible says.”
The book of Genesis describes the flood as a massive upheaval, which caused water to cover every piece of land in the entire world. Recent studies by geologists, such as Dr. Steve Austin, have presented compelling evidence that shows the formation of the Grand Canyon aligns with the biblical account of the flood. As the water rose over the North American continent it laid successive layers of dirt upon the granite basement rock, which some geologists refer to as the Great Unconformity. Once the water stopped rising, a huge amount of water was trapped above the current location of the canyon. When this natural dam broke the torrent rushed down through the newly laid sandstone layers and carved out the 18 mile wide canyon in the form we see it today.
Dr. Steve Austin explained it this way, “It’s water on a colossal scale and that’s the story here in the Grand Canyon. It’s not a little water and a lot of time. It’s a lot of water in a little time.” As Christians, we know God is able to create the world in the time frame he desires. If he created it in a short amount of time, then why couldn’t the Grand Canyon be carved out in a short time as well? The next time you are at the southern rim of the canyon consider it for yourself? Was it formed by gradual erosion or by a sudden global calamity that coincides with the biblical account?
I hope you will take the time to question the worldly philosophies of our time and always analyze our world through the clear, God-glorifying pages of Scripture.
