The prophetess Deborah’s exultant victory song in Judges 5:20, declares that the universal and inflexible order of creation – “the stars in their courses” (orbits) – “fought” against an invading enemy. Deborah was not attributing the enemy’s downfall to favorable star signs, but rather to the inevitable triumph of order over disorder and chaos.
Almighty God works through order, whereas Satan works through disorder and possible chaos. The more disorder, the more chaos. God’s order is seen in stable government and the Rule of Law. Those who resist proper authority resist that order, and in so doing resist God (Romans 13:1-2).
The aim of terrorists is to cause the political and social chaos that results in anxiety, fear and insecurity. They seek to bring about a state of panic, instability and chaos. Chaos is a terrorist’s dream and a nation’s nightmare
But such attacks on lawful society ultimately fail, because God has built universal order into creation. Among other things this order is displayed in the stars – “Not one fails” (Isaiah 40:26). If the universe were to become chaotic, the institution of government – and everything that depends on it – would collapse. But this cannot happen, because the order in creation is universal.
Terrorists seeking the overthrow of order are fighting a hopeless cause, because they are fighting against the Divine Order of things! Communism, which was the most threatening tyranny of the 20th Century, lasted only seventy years – merely a human lifetime.
When terrible events take place, Christians pray and turn to the Bible for guidance. What did God say to His people in the past? What is He saying to us today? We are encouraged by God’s assurances, and reaffirm our faith in His sovereignty over this earth.
In so doing, we dispel confusion and re-establish personal, spiritual order in our lives. The peace that Jesus gives is permanent, and since this world didn’t give it to us, it cannot take it away. Jesus said: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you; not the kind of peace the world gives. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27)
The universal order of “the stars in their orbits” and elsewhere in the universe remains the most reliable ally of all those who live in harmony with it. The Creator’s inflexible and unchanging laws bring into order personal, social, political and cosmic chaos all the time.
What might the years ahead of us bring? God alone knows. But with His help and our courage, the fight against the latest enemies of freedom will certainly be won – perhaps even sooner than we think. Apart from God’s justice nothing is inevitable. We can rest assured that chaos has no effect on God’s order.
God’s creation is on the side of law and justice. When God’s order triumphs over the present chaos we will sing songs of victory, like Deborah did. If you already believe in God’s sovereignty over this earth you’ve probably been singing songs that proclaim it for some time.
God is a God of order, not of disorder, or confusion. Spiritual laws govern His Kingdom. These laws have their natural counterparts in the laws of physics that govern our planet. We conform to the laws of physics simply because life cannot be lived outside of them. We know that if we were to step off the edge of a cliff we would die. The law of gravity would pull us downward. It would not itself kill us, but our foolishness in defying it – and the sudden stop at the bottom – almost certainly would.
We all understand these laws but not all understand that there are equivalent,spiritual laws that govern God’s creation . And, because these spiritual laws are ignored, the natural laws are out of harmony with them.
Many say that they do not believe in miracles – until they find themselves in situations where only miracles can save them. A willingness to conform to God’s spiritual laws might well have prevented them from needing miracles from God in the first place.
It is by conforming to the laws of God’s kingdom that fewer such miracles of rescue are needed. These laws, writes the Apostle Paul in Romans 1:20, are openly displayed in God’s Creation. In learning these spiritual laws, we come to understand that the laws of the Kingdom are as inexorable and inflexible as the laws of physics.
“For the invisible things of God from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and deity.”
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible puts it more clearly. “Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made.” (Romans 1:20)
Paul’s statement is amazing and opens great possibilities! It tells us that the world around us is a physical display of the power and the nature of God. His attributes are on display for all to see. The spiritual is clearly seen in the physical — the invisible God in His visible creation.
This does not mean that God may be observed through the scientist’s microscope. What it does mean is that mountains inspire us to marvel at God’s majesty, and those tiny veins in a leaf make us aware of His intricate ways. But it means more – much more!
It means that God’s nature and power are clearly revealed in the laws that govern Creation: laws of nature and physics. These laws have their spiritual equivalents in the laws of God’s Kingdom. When these two laws meet the super enters the natural, and the supernatural becomes the norm. This is not so much the intrusion of the supernatural into the natural as it is a working together of the laws of two worlds – one spiritual and the other physical. We call this “supernatural”. Miracles take place when and where the two worlds, or dimensions, work together.
Faith is the factor that brings the natural into contact with the super, the visible with the invisible, the earthy with the heavenly, and mere mortals with the Almighty.
When Jesus spoke of his approaching death, he used a natural law to explain its necessity: “Truly, truly, I say to you, except a grain of wheat fall into the ground and dies, it abides alone. But if it dies, it brings forth much fruit.” (John 12:24) Jesus went on to explain that if a person’s life is to be productive, it must first be sown as a seed. We do so by ‘sowing’ our time, money, and talents into the welfare of others. In the process, we ‘die’ to ourselves; i.e. to selfishness, self-will, and all other self-centered things, and instead live to please God and help others.
When we examine the natural laws that govern our world, we see how they portray the higher laws of God’s Kingdom. Famous men and women throughout history found fame when they discovered laws of physics, applied them, and opened up new possibilities for humanity.
Likewise, many Christians have are famous for supernatural discoveries. Those who experienced the power of God in Bible times are examples to us of what can happen when the “super” enters the “natural” and things change. “The fool has said in his heart: There is no God.” Even saying this in the privacy of the heart makes one a fool in God’s eyes, because His eternal power and Deity are all around us! We need only see that things did not just evolve over time but were created when God spoke them into being. “And God said…” occurs ten times in Genesis, the Book of Beginnings, and when He finished speaking, everything on earth began! Things evolve within species to cope with changes around them, and everything that humankind ever needed was there in God’s creation, ready and waiting to be discovered when needed. It is when we recognize this great provision that life on Planet Earth develops as the Creator intended.