Chaos

 Chaos

August 7, 2025

Genesis 1:1-2

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.

Last night I dreamed about chaos. I’m sure it had nothing to do with the fact that my niece and two other teenage girls were visiting! Anyway, I digress. My dream was about chaos in society and the role of fathers in bringing order and stability. The natural order according to the law of entropy is chaos. Like it was in the beginning, formless and void, the universe was total chaos until Father God started to speak order into existence. It was only after a series of “Let there be..”s that order came into the universe. Then, on the sixth day, God created man…

Genesis 1:26

26Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

The first purpose of man was to rule over the earth, to continue to bring order out of chaos. That is still the purpose of fathers today (not to rule out the very important role of mothers, as well). So what happens when fathers abdicate their role in the family and society? Chaos ensues.

Take the story of the old farmer and the preacher. A young preacher had just moved into town and was walking around his parish to meet the people when he came upon the old farmer in his field. “My, what a magnificent and beautiful field the Lord has given you!”, he said as he greeted the farmer. “Well”, the farmer replied, “you should have seen it when He had it all to himself.” … Without constant work and attention, entropy takes over and order descends into chaos.

So what does that have to do with affairs today? When you look around you see chaos. Crime in the streets, drug abuse, child trafficking, pornography, evil of every sort. One judge had the habit of asking the young men he sentenced about their relationship to their father. Not one of the young criminals in his court had been raised with a decent father. Fathers bring order. They are charged with ruling the family and teaching discipline. When fathers are missing in action, chaos ensues.

How do we fix society? That a deep and complex problem, but one critical component of the answer would be to encourage the Biblical role of fathers in the family. America was formed on Biblical principles, including the Ten Commandments. And one of the most important one, the only one with a promise is this:

Exodus 20:12

12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.

So whatever we do to rescue society, restoring the honoring of fathers and mothers is a critical step. So pray for revival, pray for repentance, and pray for fathers.