CREATION OUT OF CHAOS

CREATION OUT OF CHAOS “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” (Gen 1:1-2) The creation process began with an earth that was “formless and empty”. Six days later it was “very good” (Gen. 1:31). God specializes in creating order out of chaos. Everyone needs God, but especially those with chaos in their lives. With the help of God, every life can be “very good”. One well known example of this principle is the way God helped Alexander Fleming to discover and develop penicillin. Fleming was a modest Scottish physician and research biologist at St. Mary’s Hospital. Before going on holiday in 1928 he made two “mistakes”. First, he didn’t clean and sterilize his petri-dishes, and second he left the widows in his laboratory open. When he returned, he noticed that his petri-dishes were covered with mold. It was Sept. 3,. 1928. Just before washing these plates, he wisely paused to ponder what he was seeing. Something very strange and unusual was taking place. There were clear rings around some spots of mold. The mold was actually killing a wide range of harmful bacteria. A few minutes of careful thought made the difference. Fleming’s observations were first published in June 1929. Unfortunately, Fleming had neither the laboratory nor chemical background to take the next step. Therefore, after 6 years he gave up on penicillin and went on to other work. For the next 4 years the process of developing this miracle drug was abandoned. Then in 1938 God brought Dr. Howard Florey into the picture. He was the director of the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology at Oxford. He was also joined by the brilliant Jewish scientist, Dr. Ernst Chain, who had recently escaped from Hitler’s Germany. This new team began to make progress. By 1940, some 12 years after penicillin was first discovered, it was deemed ready to be used on humans. The first recipient was an Oxford constable, Albert Alexander. He was infected with streptococci and staphylococci that created smouldering abscesses in his eye, lungs, and shoulder. After 5 days of treatment, he began to recover, but not enough pure penicillin was available to complete his cure. When they ran out of penicillin the infections returned, and he died. In the summer of 1941 these researchers came to the U.S. for help. Working with scientists in Peoria, Ill. they began the mass production of this wonder drug. From January to May in 1942, 400 million units of pure penicillin were manufactured. By 1945 companies were producing 650 million units a month. Penicillin worked! In World War 1, the death rate from bacterial pneumonia was 18 %. In World War 2 it fell to less than 1 %. Note that this miracle came from a mess. Paul wrote: “We are God’s fellow workers” (1 Cor. 3:9). God didn’t ‘need Adam to dress and keep the garden, but He permitted him to do it anyhow. God didn’t need Fleming, but he chose to use him just the same. The decision of God to involve man is significant. If your life is a mess, or if there is chaos around you, God will probably allow you to become involved in solving the problem. If you cannot do it by yourself, God can easily provide an abundance of human help. Remember! “All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future — all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.” (1 Cor 3:21-23). If human help is not sufficient, God can also use angels. Angels are ministering spirits specifically assigned to minister on behalf of believers (Heb. 1:14) So, if you find yourself in the midst of a mess and are surrounded by chaos, please remember that God specializes in situations just like the one you face. When you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior you can be completely confident that He will never leave you or forsake you. Do not despair! We can be more than conquerors though Him Who loves us (Rom. 8:37).