The Dam That Built Itself
Standing before a marvel of engineering, only a lunatic would claim it appeared by random chance. Yet, when we look at the precision of the universe, we often accept the very logic we would laugh out of the room.
Many people grow up with skewed notions of God. Perhaps the most common is the idea that He doesn’t exist.
Imagine inviting the world’s best engineers and architects to stand with me before Hoover Dam on the Colorado River. There I announce—with conviction—that I built the whole thing—dam, turbines, generators—by myself.
The Lunatic on the Wall
The reaction is instant—a cacophony of laughter ricochets down the tunnels. Some think I’m an escaped lunatic; others call me the greatest liar who’s ever lived.
As we walk inside the dam—its complexity and precision on full display—the assembled experts aren’t just stunned into disbelief—they’re backing away from me and looking for the nearest exit.
I present my many degrees, experience, and a long lifetime of effort—but their faces harden and their patience wears thin.
Finally, after an hour of arguing, I tell the truth: I didn’t build the dam. I pause, watching their reactions. And then confess, “Actually, nobody did.”
Hoover Dam—one of the greatest engineering feats in world history—was not built at all. It’s just a naturally occurring structure with mechanical gates and power generation. Random chance created Hoover Dam.
Would anyone believe it? Of course not. The dam is plainly the product of design and workmanship. To claim it arose from chaotic physical forces is even more ridiculous than saying I built it alone.
Chaos and Concrete
Yet that’s exactly what people do when they look at the world around them—at all kinds of life, at natural wonders, not to mention the stars in the sky and the nearly infinite number of solar systems in the universe.
It all works with astonishing precision, and we’re told it happened by random process. The totality of creation—things infinitely more complex than Hoover Dam—being chalked up to a statistical fluke? That’s the pinnacle of wishful thinking. But that’s what many are taught to believe. And any honest observer knows better.
Still, many hold back from admitting the obvious—because if there’s a God, suddenly we have to reckon with who we are and how we live in relation to Him.
And that’s not just a question onetime atheists have to grapple with; it’s one Christians need to reckon with every day.
The Morning Question
Each morning we must ask ourselves: Today, what does God require of us?
He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6:8
