In His Light, I See Life

It is amazing to see God’s handiwork in the way He created the world.  There are so many different things that make up his physical creation.  The diversity is mindboggling; everywhere I look the unique and wonderful variety is breathtaking.  Yet this is composed of a relatively few number of different types of parts. Basically it is all made up of atoms. And these are all made up of protons and neutrons.  How do we get all this diversity from a combination of basically two types of things?

Scriptures teach that when we seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness all of these things shall be added to us.  This includes not only spiritual things but also material and conceptual things such as understanding and insight. Romans 1:20 states that the divine nature, invisible attributes and eternal power of God are revealed in the things He has created.  When I look at the  mystery of unity and diversity; I ask, how are all these elements , molecules and organisms able to express such a diversity of applications and manifestations yet be able to interrelate and have universal characteristics (so much in common)?  I catch glimpses of the answer when I look at the way God has reveled himself to me. The very nature and character of God demonstrates this same type of unity, diversity, and mystery.

When I look at the way molecules interact with each other it is clear to see God’s covenant is even spoken forth in the way things combine.  There are set ways and patterns that God has blessed, when atoms come together in those ways and patterns they produce purposeful/ useful molecules.  For example when sodium an explosive metal combines with chlorine a poisonous gas it produce table salt an important electrolyte. If I try to combine things in ways that God has not intended then I end up making harmful and even useless molecules that can injure and even hurt our environment.

From this I can see that not only is purpose important but so is placement and context.  Nuclear power is a great example.  Understanding the proper use of this truth is going to bring about a great amount of blessing in the area of properly stewarding the earth and the atmosphere.  Nuclear power is the way God energizes the earth through the sun; yet in the wrong place, in the wrong hands, this kind of energy can be used destructively.

God’s magnitude/infinitude and his attention to details are clearly seen when I look at the vast numbers of atoms present in the things that make up our universe.  For example, if I was to take a handful of carbon atoms, for instance the number found in a charcoal briquette, and if each atom were the size of a grain of sand; they could fill the Great Lakes system 10 times over.  If they were the size of a baseball they would cover the continental United States 5000 miles deep; if they were the size of an un-popped popcorn kernel they could cover the continental U.S. 9 miles deep. If I were to try to count them, and if I could somehow count 10 million of them every second, it would take 2 billion years to count them all. And that is just the atoms in a charcoal briquette.  What boggles my mind is that God is entirely acquainted with each of these atoms.  They may appear random and meaningless to me; yet, God knows them as He knows the hairs on my head. Not one of those atoms is out of place; yet, His awareness and ordering of them does not distract Him from His knowing my every thought even before it enters my mind.  He is indeed omnipotent and omniscient.

I have found that the more I appreciate God and know his character and nature the better I am able to appreciate and understand the universe that He gave me to steward… even the rocks cry out his glory and majesty…