Why can’t we believe one thing can bring life or death?

A few weeks ago while driving to church I was thinking about how if one thing was off about gravity, that the entire earth and everything in it would either smush itself into nothing or explode into nothing. 

Did you know that if phytoplankton were to go extinct, that the entire human population would slowly go extinct too? I knew about the importance of trees to our oxygen supply but I recently learned that phytoplankton is responsible for around 50-80% of our oxygen! I wouldn’t be able to breathe and we would all die, all because we need the oxygen they produce. That one thing could kill us all. 

Which is just insane. It’s wild to think that one thing can change our fate, that it can be life or death. 

And then I thought about that statement. Jesus is one thing that is the difference between life or death. 

If I asked a scientist, they would likely agree with the first two statements about gravity and phytoplankton, but why do most people hesitate to agree to the third statement: That without Jesus it is death we face. He is what saves us. I think some people would say it’s because they can’t see Him. Which is understandable... 

Until you look at the world around you. 

Think of how perfect gravity is. Our symbiotic relationship with our trees. Our cells and how they work together. How if one thing were to be off, it would essentially impact the rest of the world and lead to death.

There is a statement in young Sheldon that sticks out to me. “But the precision of the universe at least makes it logical to conclude there’s a creator.”  Here’s a clip of this scene on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vyb-sTrY_Y8. The basis is Sheldon, a young scientist who doesn't believe in God, admits that the world is so perfect, it points back to a creator. 

You may know the term keystone species. It’s a species that is so important to the environment that without it, the ecosystem would collapse.  In other words, these species can bring life or death to the area around them.

A few weeks ago I was at the beach with an ocean loving friend, who was telling me about how important sand-dollars were for the eco-system. So I went home and looked up their impact. Did you know that sand-dollars help to oxygenate the sand? Without them there would be oxygen depleted, dead zones in the sand where nothing could live. If the species that live in the sand such as worms, clams, and other burrowing species all died, then all the bottom feeding fish, juvenile fish, and shorebirds would die off. If those all died off, then their predators would have nothing to eat, and would eventually die off too. And so on and so on… you get the point. 

The ecosystem relies on a sand-dollar. One thing can bring life or death. And it’s not even considered a key-stone species. It’s not at the top of the food chain, in fact it’s pretty close to the bottom of the food chain. And this importance on one thing applies to many species of our world and many areas of our earth. 

Think about God in that sense. He is our keystone species in a way. But not just that, He is literally our life and death. Our belief in Jesus can save us from death, and He is willing and able and loving and sacrificial enough to promise that. Our life depends on Jesus. 

I think we all go through hard moments and those moments can bring doubt about God. I know after a year and a few months of following God, I have had many of those. So around 6 months ago, I began a list of things that prove God’s existence. It has helped me battle off that seed of doubt before it causes me to crumble so many times now. I talked about this concept in my previous blog post: When The Seed of Doubt is Creeping In.

This concept was immediately added to that list. Because truly, if God DIDN'T make this world, then why does the entire world mimic God in a way? Why do we see a life or death level of importance in our world all over the place? Because God DID create this world. He created you and me and your neighbor across the street. That one Taylor Swift lyric of “This city screams your name” just began to play in my head and that’s how I feel about God. The world SCREAMS His name because He is the creator. It just makes sense. 

That’s all for today. This was a continuation of my blog post earlier this month and I just felt like these were words that may help someone else out there and I wanted to share. If anyone ever wants to talk or share a story or you have questions, please never hesitate to reach out to me or send a DM on Instagram @beeveryera. 

I love having conversations and I love learning from others. Let's keep growing together. 

All my love, 

B.