Trying to print out a pamphlet in the church work room I was frustrated with the slow progress and the repeated stops of the machine, and I said to the aid who was better qualified than I, “It seems to me that in some times and places, some machines are truly capricious and arbitrary.” Walking past the open door was a man who stopped, and looking into the room said, “No! No machine is capricious or arbitrary. There is always an explanation and a reason for what it does.”

I thought that surely this man was an engineer, and almost asked him to check out our printer for us, but he had quickly walked on, not waiting to chat.

I believe that almost everyone from time to time believes that God, the creator of the universe, is in fact, capricious and arbitrary. When much of the world makes little or no sense to us, and contradictions are more common than affirmations, when no two people mean the same thing using the same words, it’s easy to believe that the arbitrary is the universal norm.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” (Genesis 1:1) From this unpromising start came light and life that our Creator declared “good.” The Bible outlines all of creation in an orderly progression—no capriciousness at all. as His Spirit hovers.

Thousands of years later, David the psalmist will write, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (psalm 51:10) The Spirit that hovered over the deep is known by the Psalmist to be able to renew his own spirit. The very creative Spirit of God is recognized by David when David has sinned and wandered from his close relationship with God.

The character of God is creative and, renewing, orderly, and loving. He is the opposite of capricious and arbitrary. David experiences the emptiness when he transgresses, and knows his God well enough to return to Him for renewal and for the joy of his salvation. (vs. 12) The world is full of contradictions and strife, but the Holy Spirit of God still hovers. He never created a universe to leave it to itself, but so that He could share it with us. He has never stopped hovering and creating in us clean hearts when we come to Him to receive them. Beneath all the confusion is our God who is never capricious or arbitrary, but always loves.

Love in Him,

Prue