“For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank of angels – everyone go started in Him and finds it’s purpose in Him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment.” (Colossians 1:17 MSG)
Set a thinker in a psychology class and then watch the smoke start to pour from her ears. I’m four weeks into this term and the required reading is far more science than I had anticipated. We’ve been learning about neuron transmitters and sensory receptors, dendrites and axons, and the known intricacies of the brain. My mind is, once again, in complete awe of the complexity of creation. This kind of awe makes me to worship the One who dreamt it all up, thought it through and knit it together.
Last night my husband was restless so we went for a drive, slowly sliding through the darkened streets of our still unfamiliar town. We passed by houses with families at home: some gathered around glowing tvs and others at the stove, preparing a meal for waiting mouths. I started to think about the science involved in the screens and the chemical reactions that occur on a stovetop. I thought of the individuals tending to those stoves and gathered around those screens, each a collection of organs and nerves and chemical reactions and thoughts themselves. Then I thought about the lights glowing bright in these homes and the silent but living electrical grid that connects us all. The intricacy of it, the big and the small alike, quieted me.
Still in a wandering mood, my husband set out of town, winding down dark roads as the moonlight grew brighter. My mind went up, as if a plane taking off. I imagined Brenham shrinking below aluminum wings. As I gained altitude, the houses and tvs and stovetops receded into small collections of pavement and streetlights; the dendrites and axons of community itself.
My imagination soared higher and the lights of Breham gave way to the Houston metroplex. The coast came into mental view and the major cities of Texas took center stage: Houston, Dallas, San Antonio. If I kept pulling back I’d see the states, reduced to pools of light, the globe and then the galaxy would fill my view. Given enough time, the known world would shrink into the grander scope of the universe.
Our God created all of this. Let that sink in. Everything on a microscopic level: protons and neutrons, mitochondria and all, but also everything on a cosmic level. He made it all and He holds it all together. He’s making and holding on planes of existence we can’t even see.
Now zoom back into the intricacies of your own world: relationships, finances, health concerns, careers, aspirations. He has all of this in His capable hands.
“But I trust in You, Lord; I say “You are my God.” My times are in Your hands.” (Psalm 31:14-15 NIV)
Lord, Your ability and attention to detail astounds us. We are still uncovering the intricacies of Your creation. May each discovery induce even more worship as we consider the work of Your hands. May Your involvement at microscopic and macroscopic proportions serve to solidify our belief about Your care and keeping of our own stories. Lord, we trust in You. May Your purposes prevail. Amen.