In my last blog post I looked at some lessons from my veggie garden. We saw that order and chaos are in conflict with each other, with order needing a force of will to push back against the continual breakdown of everything. If there is no effort to creating order, and if there is no creation, nothing but chaos and disorder will exist.
We can also see the law of decay, what scientists called entropy, at work when we see an old car sitting out in a farmer’s paddock. A car is wonderfully complex, with all of its engineering and thousands of components making a machine that propels the owner forward. If one part fails, the car can come to a grinding halt and, if left unattended or no longer maintained, the car will decay. Entropy causes ordered complexity to breakdown and become a random collection of separate parts. The old car in the paddock, left for long enough, will become dust. The wind blows and rain falls until nothing of the complex machine remains.
The idea that chaos is opposite to order is central to understanding why the whole of God’s Creation exists. The Bible shows that things only begin when God calls it into being. The force in God’s voice brought order out of the chaos. The complexity in this order leads many, including myself. to awe filled wonder. Every nature documentary I watch reveals a new aspect of God’s character, as seen in His creative work.
How does any of this help us in our daily life? The Bible displays God’s order and tells me that the power and character of God has never changed. For me, knowing that the breakdown we all encounter in the journey of life is not the “normal” we should accept, helps me to look for the order that God brings. In my faith, I look for and trust in the God of order.
Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.”
Peter Chase
College Chaplain • Pastoral Care
