Creative Re-ordering

In Genesis Chapter 1, we read about the six days of creation. It starts off with a world which is formless and empty. During the first three days of creation God brings order from chaos. After that, He spent the next three days filling the now well-ordered spheres of sky, sea, and land with its inhabitants. On the seventh day, He rested.

Those first days of creation God separates that which needs separating out. He gathers those things which need gathering. Light is divided from darkness. Skies are separated from the earth. Seas are gathered together. Already, in this now more orderly world, dry land appears and vegetation starts to grow. Life!

With everything in its rightful place, the world is now ready to be filled with inhabitants. God fills the skies, the seas, and ultimately the land with life. Birds, fish, and land animals abound. When all is ready, He creates mankind. Human life can prosper in these optimal conditions which God has brought about.

It was a revelation to me that the creation story in Genesis does not focus on bringing something forth out of nothing (though I do believe God did also do just that!). Instead, it speaks of God bringing order from chaos. A world where everything is mixed up, where things aren’t appropriately ordered, isn’t much good. It certainly would not be an environment for humans to flourish. God prioritises ordering, setting the scene for the world to teem with life. Separating things, gathering them, putting them into the right places, are all described as acts of creation.

I don’t know about you, but all too often, I myself am in need of some serious re-ordering. Thoughts and feelings are all over the place, mixed up, and chaotic. Even my priorities and affections are out of whack. To say these are sub-optimal conditions for flourishing is an understatement. I need the Creator God to bring some order into my chaos!

Just as God was able to order this ‘empty and formless’ world, He is able to help us sort out our mixed up, disorganised, messy thoughts. We can, and absolutely should, ask Him for this. I have found it be a very powerful and fruitful prayer. When I feel overwhelmed, when I cannot see wood for the trees, when I am a bit all over the place, I can go for a walk and pray “Lord, will you please bring order into this chaos?” I find that God, incredibly faithfully, listens to and answers this little prayer.

I love the thought that we can see God’s ongoing re-ordering in our lives as acts of a Creator. For a long time (especially during the so-called enlightenment) God was seen as a kind of watchmaker, who had wound up the universe as some sort of enormous mechanism, and then retreated to let things run their course. It was an impersonal, mechanical, deterministic view of God’s relationship with the world. Thankfully, reality is much more exciting than that. God is not only our Creator, but He is also continuously and closely involved with His creation. He is always ready to help us re-order our lives and bring about conditions in which we can thrive.

I love the words of the old hymn ‘Dear Lord and Father of mankind’ which reflect this sentiment, "Take from our souls the strain and stress, and let our ordered lives confess the beauty of Thy peace." Amen!