Witness
Psalm 145:16 – When I open My Hand I provide for all that I created
When I took physics in college, we studied terms like “static” and “dynamic” states of matter, meaning that there are some things that don’t change and others that constantly do.
The word “statistics” by its very nature is data that is fixed, unchanging, steady-as-she-goes. Then there’s the word “dynamo” or “dynamite” with the same prefix “dyna”, meaning full of energy, power, and subject to rapid and sudden change.
Maybe that’s why I gravitated to the scientific realm. I like and appreciate the truths that I can count on, that the law of gravity says that the ball comes down into the glove, that with the law of acceleration my car goes faster when I press the pedal that burns more energy-producing fuel, that I can bank on this or that anatomical structure is where they taught us it would be when I’m in surgery. These are static things in my mind, and the training at school drilled that into us.
That’s all well and good until things change. The blood vessel you thought is to be at point “A” is NOT there when a tumor obliterates it or shoves it into another position. That’s the dynamics, if you will, of medicine, in that everything you were taught as “normal” changes when it comes to disease and injury. It has become very dynamic in a heartbeat, so to speak.
“You have to know normal before you can recognize abnormal”, one of our profs said. I think that’s why they call medicine an art AND a science, because you have to learn to apply your knowledge of normal, and be able to use it in an abnormal situation in an attempt to correct the problem, whatever it is.
I think God has got to be a scientist… everything around us just makes too much logical sense. We know a lot, as human beings, of our world. Many truths have been discovered, just as many things we thought were true have been proven otherwise. The world was flat once upon a time, remember? And we haven’t even scratched the surface as our basic knowledge is constantly changing, dynamic, if you will.
But God has not changed. The God who created Adam and Eve, of Moses, Abraham, Mary/Joseph/JESUS, and yes, the God of you and me—has remained the same. As with science, we will never know all there is to know about Him, but we are provided with His “textbook” to show us the way, to provide us a roadmap and direction for our journey in this world and beyond.
It’s up to us, always has been, to follow the directions to avoid getting lost, to find our way home.
These ancient inspired words from Genesis to Revelation have never changed. Sure, there are now MANY translations, I think in man’s attempt to adapt the Word to “make them more relevant”, more “contemporary” in this ever-changing world. The message is clear and very simple: ”You are My children and I love you, and will do anything I can to protect you from harm.”
I take great comfort that He is who He says He is, that, no matter what this world throws at us, we will always have safe harbor from the storms, that Jesus will guide us safely home, providing everything we need.
Dr. Dale Butler