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Author
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Topic: Facing Chaos?
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Carol Swenson
Admin
Member # 6929
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posted
Genesis 1:1-2 (NASB)
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.
There are many, many finely tuned laws governing the existence of our universe, and especially our planet allowing for complex life here.
There are laws governing our life and health, such as foods we can eat while other things would be poisonous to us.
Exodus 20:3 (NASB)
You shall have no other gods before Me.
There are laws to govern our behavior with God, and with each other, and with the Earth that He originally gave to us to care for.
Ephesians 2:10 (NASB)
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
And there are laws to govern our individual purposes in life.
Ephesians 4:11-12 (NASB)
11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
God does indeed establish order out of chaos. And without His guiding hand, every individual living cell, every atom, our lives, our world, even our universe would quickly unravel and become self-destructive.
Praise God for His infinite wisdom and loving care!!!!
Imagine a small child sitting alone on a park bench. An adult walks by and asks the child if he's okay. The child looks up sad and helpless and asks, "Do you know how to tie shoes?" The adult kneels down and helps the child tie his shoes. All of us are sometimes faced with things we need to do, we want to do, but we don't know how.
Does God know how to tie shoes?
Posts: 6787 | From: Colorado | Registered: Dec 2007
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WildB
Moderator
Member # 2917
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posted
He did it by establishing Boundaries....
"No you can't scream , yell , run around and jump on the furniture! Take it outside! NOW!"
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That is all.....
Posts: 8775 | From: USA, MICHIGAN | Registered: Mar 2004
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Hashe
Advanced Member
Member # 11273
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posted
I have two small children. For my house this means lots of chaos. It feels like a never ending battle bringing order to the house. It feels like after 5 minutes of the children being awake or coming home the house is in complete chaos.
The Bible starts with a picture of utter chaos. For the early Israelites, the picture painted in Gen 1:2 is one of fear coming out of chaos. The first thing is the darkness. Today it is hard to be outside and in complete darkness. There are lights everywhere but for the early Israelite, the darkness represented danger. There were also sorts of animals or people that could attack you from the dark without being seen.
The second thing is deep waters. The Israelites weren’t comfortable with deep water. Think about Jesus’ disciples. Some of them were fishermen, brought up with the water, but when a storm comes, they suddenly fear for their lives (Lk 8:22-24). And this is the ones who were the most comfortable with water. In fact, for this reason, in Rev 21:1 the picture of the new earth is one without sea!
To go with this darkness and deep waters is the fact that the earth is without form. There is nothing firm to which you can stand or even hold. How terrifying is that picture?
I wonder, if you were going to start a religious book, is this the first picture you would paint? Why does God start with this story?
By the end of this first story in Gen 1, God has turned this frightening chaos into a beautiful picture of order. From the midst of terrifying disorder, God creates a safe environment in which people can live. The chaos isn’t just removed, it is brought into order. The big picture message of this story is that the God of this book (the bible) can bring order from any mess that we might find ourselves in. He may not do it instantly or in the way we want, but he has the ability and the desire to help us bring order into our lives - especially when the disorder is caused by sin.
Whenever I see the chaos created by my children, it always makes me think of the God who can bring order to Chaos. It makes me wonder, what other chaos has been created in my life? Have I invited God into that Chaos? Have I looked to find his way to bring some order into the chaos?
Posts: 23 | From: South Africa | Registered: Feb 2014
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