Sometimes I stand at the edge of a field and watch wind blow the grass. Each blade moves differently from each other blade. I am overwhelmed trying to watch the movements of only five or ten blades of grass. Slowly I become aware of the incomprehensible number of blades of grass in the small area right where I’m standing…and then the whole huge field. And many more fields throughout Oklahoma. And many, many more throughout America and around the world…so many blades of grass. And the cells inside each blade…and the atoms inside each cell…and a universe full of such wonders!
The Bible says that God is all-powerful, but I confess that I have often doubted God’s ability to control all of this. Is God really in control of the world? I can’t even imagine what that would mean. It’s incomprehensible. How could there possibly be one Person who is vast enough, smart enough, powerful enough, to know and control all that is going on at each second throughout this little patch of grass; much less the unfathomable universe? I can certainly appreciate the perspective of non-believers who scoff at the idea of God, saying it’s an impossible idea.
Whoa, what happened? We arrived at this point of doubting God’s existence because we started by looking at the world without God. We concluded that it is outrageously huge and complex; therefore it is outrageous for any one being to control it all. We started with our knowledge of the world, and allowed that to define our knowledge of God. But if God really came first, then we should start with our knowledge of Him, and allow that to define our knowledge of the world. What if we were to start with the idea of an all-powerful God? If we assume that such a God exists, then why should it be difficult for Him to create an unthinkably complex and vast world?
The Bible says that God is infinite. If we start with this idea, then why should it be particularly hard for Him to make one type of universe or another? Perhaps the only world that would be worthy of Him would be one that is, itself, infinite!
The universe is huge and amazing, and it does make perfect sense for an infinite God to be in control of every detail.
Written by Luke Kallberg
