Crushing Chaosਨਮੂਨਾ

A GOD WORTH TRUSTING

Any parent knows that young kids can’t survive a day without the order their parents provide. Even though kids might sometimes hate that parental order, it is the very thing keeping them alive. If children were allowed to govern themselves, they would inevitably turn their home into their hell.

That’s what happened in the Flood. The story of the Flood in Genesis is another example of why we need God’s Order to find peace. It is a story of how we turned our ordered home into a hell of Chaos, and it only took seven chapters of the biblical story for us to do it. Humans desired a world without God. When God removed Himself, creation simply reverted to its original state—chaos.

It’s important to remember the opening lines of Genesis as we consider the story of the Flood. If creation began as nothingness, and then God flooded the creation, that implicates the character of God. But if creation’s original state was a deep, raging watery abyss of Chaos, then the Flood is simply a story of reversal—where the creation reverts to its original chaos.

Genesis 7:11 reads, “On that day all the springs of the great deep [tehom] burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.” Tehom is the same word used in Genesis 1:2. Scripture is making it abundantly clear that God isn’t responsible for plunging the earth back into Chaos; humans are. God doesn’t ruthlessly kill humans or desire to destroy humanity. Humans kill humans, and humans make decisions that destroy humanity.

If order invites divine rest, chaos drives God away. And we made it clear—we wanted a world without God, a world of independence and autonomy. We wanted a world free of God’s rules.

So, God left us alone. If God didn’t honor our free will, He’d be a monster. And if God is a monster, the rest of the Bible ain’t worth reading. Genesis is painting a picture of God that humanity can trust. Because we must trust His character before we can embrace His Order and find the peace we crave.

God, forgive me for the times I have resisted Your guidance, thinking I could govern myself without You. I see the destruction that comes when I push You away. Help me to trust in Your character and the Order You lovingly provide. Amen.