the butterfly effect
I've noticed that, when I really really really want something, questions of exactly how God's sovereignty apply to the small things in life suddenly begin to matter to me. For example, I am trying to do something this coming academic year, which requires my funder's approval. So, for example, when I have been diligently working on my research all day but take a 5 minut break to surf the web (blog surfing, today) and my funder walks by, how will that affect the outcome? I have been on my knees day after day praying about this. Could the outcome really boil down to someone walking by my computer when I'm taking a break, think I'm just goofing off and decide I'm not the type worth investing in for a year?
It makes me shudder to think...
Or, if that isn't bad enough, the following could happen. I could pause for 5 seconds before I walk out the door in the morning, because I forgot to turn off the light. This 5 second pause will completely change the dynamics of biking to school because of traffic etc. This will change when I work, and how I work. It could change if I get in a crash, or if I make it to school safe. This could change whether I get funding, which could determine where I live next year, which could determine the wife I marry some day (hah) which could affect what kids I have which could eventually affect the entire world.
The butterfly effect. It gives me the creeps to think that whether I choose to bike home after I finish this or check my email first could be the difference between dying in a car wreck 10 years from now or not.
And this is where I started wondering about God's sovereignty. I have heard it said by hardcore Calvinists that sovereignty doesn't get rid of cause and effect. "The effect was predestined to happen because of the cause" I was told, as the teacher dropped the pen on the floor. This is not a comforting view of God's sovereignty, if it is limited to this. It provides no stabilization for the future, because a chaotic system functions the exact same way (a chaotic system being defined as one that has extreme sensitivity to small variations in initial conditions).
However, if God has more sovereignty over the course of history, and has purpose for each of us, then the chaos is not quite so terrifying. Saying God is this way or that way because it "seems right" gives me about as much creeps as the butterfly effect. But from in his word he says "I have plans to prosper you" and "all things work for the good of those who believe." It could be argued that the change the Holy Spirit brings about is one that allows us to reap good from any result a chaotic system could generate. However, throughout the scripture you see God doesn't only change a person's nature to accept all things (Through the Spirit, Paul learned contentment in all situations) but that he plans specific events to occur in people's life. Using Paul as an example again, God didn't give him much choice about becoming his servant. Throughout his ministry, specific ordained events occured, but wait, I'm missing the big E on the eye chart here. Christ's life was the epitome of a combination of free will and sovereignty. "These things must come but woe to the one through whom they come." If Jesus had stubbed his toe when he was 5 because Joseph dropped a 2x4 on the way home, Judas would have still betrayed him, and he would have still been crucified and resurrected.
If God loves us through Christ, who is to say that the major events in our life aren't as pre-ordained as those in Christs? Purpose, in this case, would act like negative feedback in an amplifier circuit. There may be some immediate, small fallout like the transient response of the system to small impulses. But because of purpose stabilizes the system, the outcome will be more or less the same. I don't know if my life have this much level of purpuse because we haven't been given prophecies regarding the specifics of each of our lives. But I believe it does have both general and specific purpose. And after seeing God answer prayer and love me in the craziest, most specific ways, I am worrying less and less about the future, because trust in his purpose seems to replace the worry.
But its going to be really hard to say that if I don't end up getting what I am hoping for, in this case. I guess I haven't learned to fully trust yet.
It makes me shudder to think...
Or, if that isn't bad enough, the following could happen. I could pause for 5 seconds before I walk out the door in the morning, because I forgot to turn off the light. This 5 second pause will completely change the dynamics of biking to school because of traffic etc. This will change when I work, and how I work. It could change if I get in a crash, or if I make it to school safe. This could change whether I get funding, which could determine where I live next year, which could determine the wife I marry some day (hah) which could affect what kids I have which could eventually affect the entire world.
The butterfly effect. It gives me the creeps to think that whether I choose to bike home after I finish this or check my email first could be the difference between dying in a car wreck 10 years from now or not.
And this is where I started wondering about God's sovereignty. I have heard it said by hardcore Calvinists that sovereignty doesn't get rid of cause and effect. "The effect was predestined to happen because of the cause" I was told, as the teacher dropped the pen on the floor. This is not a comforting view of God's sovereignty, if it is limited to this. It provides no stabilization for the future, because a chaotic system functions the exact same way (a chaotic system being defined as one that has extreme sensitivity to small variations in initial conditions).
However, if God has more sovereignty over the course of history, and has purpose for each of us, then the chaos is not quite so terrifying. Saying God is this way or that way because it "seems right" gives me about as much creeps as the butterfly effect. But from in his word he says "I have plans to prosper you" and "all things work for the good of those who believe." It could be argued that the change the Holy Spirit brings about is one that allows us to reap good from any result a chaotic system could generate. However, throughout the scripture you see God doesn't only change a person's nature to accept all things (Through the Spirit, Paul learned contentment in all situations) but that he plans specific events to occur in people's life. Using Paul as an example again, God didn't give him much choice about becoming his servant. Throughout his ministry, specific ordained events occured, but wait, I'm missing the big E on the eye chart here. Christ's life was the epitome of a combination of free will and sovereignty. "These things must come but woe to the one through whom they come." If Jesus had stubbed his toe when he was 5 because Joseph dropped a 2x4 on the way home, Judas would have still betrayed him, and he would have still been crucified and resurrected.
If God loves us through Christ, who is to say that the major events in our life aren't as pre-ordained as those in Christs? Purpose, in this case, would act like negative feedback in an amplifier circuit. There may be some immediate, small fallout like the transient response of the system to small impulses. But because of purpose stabilizes the system, the outcome will be more or less the same. I don't know if my life have this much level of purpuse because we haven't been given prophecies regarding the specifics of each of our lives. But I believe it does have both general and specific purpose. And after seeing God answer prayer and love me in the craziest, most specific ways, I am worrying less and less about the future, because trust in his purpose seems to replace the worry.
But its going to be really hard to say that if I don't end up getting what I am hoping for, in this case. I guess I haven't learned to fully trust yet.
posted by tmm at
3:42 PM
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