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It is sometimes said that God has not (been) very efficient in creating the universe, the world and man. 'Been' by the way, because He is still creative. In the dizzying expanse, the earth is only a grain of sand. Not the epicenter, but barely visible tucked away. Some therefore believe that God, "if he exists," has not been very efficient. And that's right. An efficient God would be able to accomplish the intended goal with the least amount of resources possible. It is the God image of "the efficient manager" or perhaps "the mechanical engineer. But unlike a manager or engineer, God has unlimited resources and time at his disposal.
It is something like the jargon of fools, who talk about "efficiency" without any critical consideration of the concept of "effect."¹
But could it be that God is not efficient want are? That he finds pure joy in creating himself? That he is not a manager, but an artist! Not efficient, yet effective - He comes to his goal in joy and enthusiasm, in exuberant creative drive he creates the world. It reminds me of that other delightful quote from Chesterton:
It is possible that God says "One more time" to the sun every morning and "One more time" to the moon every evening. It may not be an automatic necessity that daisies look alike. It may be that God makes them separately, but never tires of making them. It may be that He has the eternal eagerness of a child, for we have sinned and grown old and our Father is younger than we are.
God does not need to be frugal; his inefficiency is not wasteful. And yet everything - worked out to the smallest detail - comes to its purpose.² And God saw that it was good.³
Endnotes:
1 - G.K. Chesterton, What it's all about
2 - Finetuning the universe, see for example this article by Emanuel Rutten
2 – Genesis 1
