Fill the Earth and Subdue It.
With God there is order. Chaos sifts through His fingers and emerges as perfectly placed and meaningfully intertwined creation. There is beauty in the complex simplicity of all that God created. At first glance, creation sounds so simple: “Let the earth put forth vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in its kind, upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:11) The simplicity of each plant replicating itself contrasts how intricate the process needs to be.
In the mountainous areas of China, there grows an orchid that can only be pollinated by a certain species of mouse known simply as the wood mouse. This flower only flowers from the end of February until the end of March… the exact time that the wood mouse finds its food sources scarce. Having very little alternatives, the wood mouse is drawn to the orchid because of intensely sweet taste of its labellum and dislikes the bitter taste of the rest of the flower. This ensures that the flower gets pollenated and yet not damaged by the rodent. Before this plant creates a seed, it must wait for just the right moment, and just the right animal, to come foraging for a fix for its sweet tooth. The simple act of reproduction can be incredibly complicated and intricate. There are no other animals or insects that are attracted to this flower. There is no other way for one plant to be pollinated by another. Yet, as farfetched as it might appear, God placed the one animal attracted to this particular flower in the exact mountainous region where the plant grows. Simply complicated.
God shows us His character in the recollection of creation. He proves His propensity to order and His desire that His creation be united and harmonious. There is nothing haphazard about creation, and there is nothing careless about our God. He designs with the dedication and skill of a master. Like the Cymbidium serratum (Chinese Orchid), we need not doubt our ability to bloom where we are planted. God knows just what we need to produce the seeds He designed us to produce, and He has already provided the means of our pollination.
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