Order exists in two flavors—natural and Divine.

Natural order runs down. Observation reveals creation’s beginning—a single, hot birthing point for matter, energy, space, and time nicknamed “The Big Bang.” Since then, the universe dissipates, expanding faster and faster. Eventually, everything—galaxies, stars, planets, people, and flowers—will dissolve, leaving only dark nothing, frozen at absolute zero (about –460°F.) We see it every day. Systems degrade from higher levels of order to lower. Coffee gets cold. Shoes wear out. Airplanes exhaust their fuel. Farms turn to weeds.

Even without studying physics, we intuitively fight against entropy. Unfortunately, nature’s laws defeat our struggle. We can control our movement through space to a small degree—walking to the store or flying to Mars are roughly equivalent on a cosmic scale. But time defies us. We’re just along for the ride. Though we try hard, every effort that seems right to us ends the same way. Our works evaporate. Death and corruption claim us.

God’s order, on the other hand, grows. With neither beginning nor end, His Kingdom exists outside of space, excludes death, and lives free of the curse. Everywhere is here. All times are now. The deeper we go, the bigger it gets. Humility breeds kings, submission becomes power. Small seeds grow into immense trees; tiny faith relocates mountains. Spirit trumps letter, while mercy swallows judgment and fruit surpasses works. What sounds too good to be true, he exposes as understatement.

But when we forget why the Lord placed us here (or quit in disgust), Paul reminds us that, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.”

So, how do you find yourself swimming against nature’s current these days?

Ecclesiastes 2:4-11; Romans 8:18-21; Matthew 5:1-10; Revelation 21:6-7; Luke 9:46-48