In 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted causing widespread devastation. The local ecosystem was transformed in seconds from a thriving forest landscape to an apocalyptic dead zone.

But, shockingly, it only took a few years for the plants and animals, including the fish in the lakes, to come back. Life managed to survive in some places and migrated in from other places.

This relatively minor catastrophe is a good reminder of Noah’s flood. Many skeptics claim life, especially marine life, couldn’t survive such a catastrophe. But Mount St. Helens reminds us that God, well, he has designed his creation to recover from catastrophe.