It’s only day two in The Purpose Driven Life blog series and I’m running into trouble with Rick Warren’s interpretation of life, the universe and everything. The idea that everything is designed by God is classic modernism – we’d like to think that God’s in control of everything. That’s OK if your life is going fine and you have a good chance at pulling through the hard times. What about if you’re born in a hell hole, born with AIDS, suffering from congenital disease, crippled? Can we really say that’s the way God intended it? It sounds like what one of Job’s friends would have said.
“Your birth was no mistake or mishap,
and your life is no fluke of nature.”
Rick Warren
“God doesn’t play dice”
Albert Einstein
What about the part in Romans 8 where Paul talks about the creation groaning for the full expression of God’s way for the world? We’re in a fragile world, full of chaos. People hurt. People hurt others. And as far as I can see in the Scriptures, that’s not the way God intends it.
“There must be an underlying reality, a hidden variable”
Albert Einstein said that God doesn’t play dice with the universe. He thought that the apparent chaos being displayed in quantum physics experiments must have a hidden variable, an underlying design. But since that famous quote, further experiments indicate that Einstein was mistaken. God does appear to play dice with the universe. There is a huge amount of randomness that goes with the design. Patterns emerge in every aspect of life. But at the same time, within those patterns, there is room for the unpredictable.
Stephen Hawking covers this point in one of his lectures, “Does God play dice?”
Having said that, I still agree that we are not accidents. Although there is a strong sense of chance in my development, God’s purpose is strong throughout. I believe it when I hear God saying “I am your Creator. You were in my care even before you were born.”
Isaiah 44:2 (CEV)
Question for the day from Rick, “I know that God uniquely created me. What areas of my personality, background, and physical appearance am I struggling to accept?”
I guess I’m struggling with the messiness of my lifestyle. I enjoy variety and thrive in that environment. I don’t fit easily into the tight structured demands of some situations. But I can accept that I am who I am, and look for God’s purpose for me today.