I have been fishing in Soldotna, Alaska, on the Kenai River for the last 2 weeks, and the fishing has been terrible. According to the sonar counter near the mouth of the Kenai River, about 10,000 fish have been coming up every day since July 1st. That may seem like a lot, but it isn’t; it takes about 3 hours of fishing or more to catch one fish at that count. Up until yesterday, it had been the worst run in the last 30 years. But yesterday, 172,000 fish came through the counter. That is crazy good. I can catch a fish every 20 to 30 minutes with that many fish swimming by. The big discussion now with all the fishermen is “Why?”

Even though a sockeye salmon is just a dumb fish, there is always a reason for what they do, and when 172,000 decide to come up the river on the same day, there is a reason. In talking with different fishermen and reading comments on Facebook, the conjectures on the” Why” are many and different, and some are very weird. One guy suggested that aliens from outer space were herding the fish. In the Gospels, the disciples fished all night and caught nothing. Jesus told them to cast their net on the other side of the boat. They did that and caught a lot of fish. How did Jesus do that? I don’t know how, but I do know that He did it. The big question now is, “How long will it last?” Last year we had 20 days in a row of over 100,000 fish a day. I am here for one more week, so the chances of good fishing for the rest of the trip are very good. As we all live life and bad things happen to us, we will ask, “Why?” I believe that God loves me and that He is the one controlling the circumstances of my life. Often things happen in my life that are painful, disappointing, and that I can’t fix or solve.

The question I ask is, “Why God?” Are You trying to tell me something? Are You disciplining me for a sin I have committed? Are You working on my character? In the book of Job in the Bible, Job asked that question several times. God never gave Job an answer. The thing about the fish is you can’t interrogate them; they’re not talking. So the motto for this trip to Alaska is, “When there are few fish, enjoy the fishing experience, and when there are lots of fish, enjoy the catching experience”. But the bottom line is, God did it, so in either situation, never grumble, and rejoice always.