When considering the creation of the universe and the life that resides on Earth, it is fascinating to contemplate the complexity involved. The function of the eyeball, which amazingly detects light and connects with the brain to stimulate the thought of an image boggles the mind. The planets, stars and other cosmic substances contain an ordered form that is stunning to see. The Earth resides in just the right place in the solar system, with just the right atmosphere that can sustain life. Even the simple building block of a protein molecule works in such a way that it functions in harmony with other protein molecules to fulfill very complex biological functions like digestion, immune response, and reproduction. Of course, we can go on and on with other examples of creation’s complexity and elegant beauty which demonstrate how all the many pieces fit together.

What also boggles my mind is how so many in the world attribute the complexity of the universe and miracle of life to randomness. To rely on randomness to produce the order we observe in our universe is ridiculous. The probability of producing ordered outcomes from a random process for even the simplest examples are infinitesimally small.

In his book “Solve for Happy,” Mo Gawdat uses a hypothetical example of a monkey typing at 220 words per minute to randomly generate a 9-word sentence. At that rate, it would take 2.5 billion-trillion-trillion-trillion-trillion-trillion-trillion times longer than the estimated age of the earth to produce the desired result. This, of course, is a much simpler task than something like creating life.

Another relatively simple example is the biological process of a protein molecule folding to achieve its stable structure needed to perform a function. The number of ways a protein can fold incorrectly is a massive 10⁷⁴, but there is only one correct way. For this to happen randomly is incomprehensibly improbable, especially when considering the finite age of the universe. Quoting from evolutionnews.org, “the number of ways you can assemble amino acids that won’t fold vastly exceeds the ways that will fold. To expect a random process to search ‘sequence space’ (the set of all sequences of amino acids) and arrive at one that folds is so highly improbable, it will likely never occur in multiple universes.” Just considering these basic examples of randomness applied to our world’s design exposes the problem of attributing order to random process. When acknowledging the vast complexity of creation, you would have to be crazy to think that it is the product of randomness.

It is a much saner position to attribute the ordered, complex beauty of creation to the Creator. The Bible tells us exactly how the universe came into being. God created it! “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth” (Psalm 33:6). Jesus Christ in His glorified state created everything. “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:3). He placed the planets and stars in just the right positions. He designed all life and its biological functions. He created it all, and He did not rely on randomness to accomplish it. He was very intentional in His design.

As plain as this Truth is, most of mankind pridefully rejects it. They would much rather trust randomness to explain the order that surrounds them. The Bible has an evaluation of this line of thinking. “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Professing to be wise, they became fools” (Romans 1:20-22). It is foolish to believe that randomness produced the universe! If applying the extremely improbable odds of randomness producing the universe to a different circumstance, such as winning the lottery, I doubt anyone would expect to win. Yet confoundingly, those same people trust in randomness as the source of creation with brazen certainty. Foolish indeed!

We are fortunate to understand the Truth of creation. Not only is the complexity and order of our physical universe awesome, but the implied meaning is even more amazing. God’s designed creation implies purpose! He has had a plan in mind since the very beginning, which is to bring us into His Family in glory to live with Him eternally. It is God, “who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began” (compare 2 Timothy 1:9).  We do not have to rely on randomness in our lives because God has a clear purpose for us. We can trust that with certainty.

By the time you read this, the presidential election in the United States will be complete. Regardless of who the winner is, I expect people within the country and around the world will respond with heightened emotion and strong rhetoric, revealing a mixture of joy and outrage. The elected president of the United States will undoubtedly set the direction for the future of the country, but it does not matter who wins.

The ultimate future of the United States will not change. Sadly, the nation rejects God and at this time shows no indication of changing. The Bible is clear that this rejection will bring about a level of discipline that must take place. Our nation is on a doomed path leading the country to destruction. The only difference between the two candidates will be the means of destruction and who gets the blame for presiding over the demise.

However, the placement of blame that the world will place on the president will be incomplete. The true blame rests with those who reject God and refuse to obey Him. As God led Israel out of Egypt, He gave them a dire warning about the consequences of disobedience. In Deuteronomy 28:15 He warns, “‘But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you…’” Moses then shares the many, many curses that the people can expect to experience, many of which we can apply in our present age. 

As Biblical prophecy unfolds, we will see further deterioration of our nation, to the point when there will be an attack, which results in captivity (compare Deuteronomy 28:47-52). To many, this is unfathomable to consider. How could the world’s most powerful nation drop to its knees and lose its once favorable influence in the world? Certainly, the leaders will have taken the country down this path, but the citizens have also pushed them in that direction so that they cannot avoid it. The Bible clearly explains why. Quite simply, the people have turned from God, and therefore He removes His blessings of prosperity, peace, and protection. What people are voting for in this election is not a president, but rather the one who will satisfy their desires, in which God is not welcome.

As Christians, our job is to reject this unrighteousness that prevails and do what we can to please God. We choose Jesus Christ as our leader, who will guide us in the path of righteousness. We can find solace in looking to Him: “He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake” (Psalm 23:3). Even though this nation, along with the rest of the world, has turned away from God and chooses leaders that do not understand true righteousness, we do not have to follow in that direction. We can and must choose a different path. The path that we follow does not lead to destruction, but to everlasting life.

Paradoxically, our lives are at the same time vanishingly diminutive and immensely important. Considering the enormity of creation, our lives occupy a mere moment in time. We are a mote in the universe. The impact we might make with the greatest of possible achievements in the history of man quickly fades from memory. Yet, in the grand plan of God, the Creator of everything, our lives are so significant that He would have still sent His Son as a Sacrifice for our sins if we had been the only person alive needing salvation. We are so small and the events in our lives are so trivial, yet our lives in the eyes of God are so awesome as to be of eternal importance.

Day to day, it helps to consider this paradox. In the good moments when we might have feelings of pride in our achievement, it helps to remember that what we have done is miniscule when zooming out to see the bigger picture. More emphatically, anything that we might be able to accomplish is only possible with God’s help. On the opposite end of the spectrum, in difficult times when we might face seemingly impossible circumstances, it helps to remember that our problems will eventually pass. Even if we face the most extreme situation of a threat against our life, it helps to know that in God’s great plan, this life is just a temporary physical existence that will give way to an eternal one. Accepting that our lives are relatively small and insignificant helps temper pride and cope with difficulty. Yet, believing that we are so important to God that He sacrificed His only Son so that we can live with Him eternally in glory is infinitely revitalizing!

It is a great relief when we understand the Truth of God’s plan and how we play a role in it. The experiences we now have that cause us to abound in joy or cower in grief lose their power to control us because we know there’s something much greater to look forward to. The Spirit of God is the only thing that makes it possible to understand the magnitude of God’s plan. “But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’ But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God” (1 Corinthians 2:9-10). The future that we have is beyond the capacity of the physical man to comprehend without God’s Spirit. When we have the Truth inspired by the Holy Spirit working in our lives, it will function as a powerful guide. Knowing what God has prepared for us makes our hardships bearable and keeps our physical delights in their place.

Even though we understand God’s awesome plan, made possible through the Holy Spirit, what’s even more amazing is that we only have a glimpse of what the future holds. We can abstractly understand eternity and what it means to become glorified, but we are incapable of experiencing it right now. Without that experience, there’s only so much that we can know. “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known” (1 Corinthians 13:12). Therefore, if we can only begin to comprehend what God has in store for us now while we are bound by our physical existence, how much greater will that glorious life actually be? The future God has planned defies all imagination.

Contemplating the greatness of God’s Truth must influence our perspective. The greatness of God’s plan for us does not need to diminish the meaning of the real experiences we have. We don’t have to be in denial throughout our lives believing that our experiences are of no value. On the contrary, the hardships and the good times alike are experiences meant to train us. Growing in our calling involves going through it all. Remember that Jesus Christ came to this Earth fully human as we are, so that He could experience life and suffer as we do. Just because we have eternal life to look forward to doesn’t mean that our lives now aren’t valuable. Rather, we understand how to keep it in perspective. Suffering in this life is difficult. But relatively speaking, our suffering now is insignificant in comparison to our great future. “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18). The experiences that we have now give us the opportunity to develop our relationship with God, which will lead us to glory so great that it will lift the weight of all our prior suffering.

We must spend whatever time we have left on this Earth growing closer to God and working ever closer to perfection. We have the hope of eternity to guide us through the good times and the bad, so that we don’t go astray. We have a great future to look forward to, and we have the privilege now to understand it. “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).