Genesis 1:1
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1.
This was the fist Bible verse I ever memorized. I've been thinking about it a lot lately because I've been thinking about why on earth God would want to make something out of the mess that was the earth. I don't know if you're an artist or familiar with people who do creative things, but usually the first step to a masterpiece is a blank slate, a clean canvas, and a brand new palette with great splashes of color. The beginning of a painting is often the most organized moment of an artists' day, it's when anything can happen and the possibilities are endless.
But that is not the picture we get at the beginning of creation, instead the canvas God is looking at is this: "The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep." (Gen. 1:2a) It was formless and void, in other words, all there was was chaos and emptiness. Not a squeaky clean new canvas, but chaos and darkness. God took one look at the mess and thought, "I can do something with this." He didn't look away from the madness or decide to busy himself doing something else, but he actually hung out in it: "And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." (Gen. 1:2b). I think the Spirit of God was dreaming over the face of the waters, assessing the chaos and visualizing all the beauty that could come from it because in the next breath as if struck by sudden inspiration God says, "Let there be light!" And that was it, suddenly the chaos and void were filled, suddenly there were all the possibilities, suddenly the story began and God's dreams started coming to life! And in this season I think about that, and I can't help but wonder, does it still work this way? Is God still inspired to create in the midst of chaos and emptiness?
Because man, my heart feels so chaotic and my life seems so empty. The current world crisis has only highlighted the fact that my own soul can be the home for chaos and void, and my default thought is, "No one wants a part of this. Everyone needs to stay away, otherwise my chaos will get on them and then we'll all be a mess." I especially think God is not a fan of this mess, that after all these years of following Him and knowing what I should be doing and how I should be living, He looks at the chaos I made and thinks, "I thought we went over this, I thought I just cleaned this up, why are you back here again?" I begin to believe that He's staying away because my mess is shameful and somehow a statement about how maybe I am messed up beyond all hope because it's been this long and I have yet to see perfection.
But then this little verse, the one I memorized when I was just 5 years old comes back to mind and I remember, "The earth was without form and void... and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." The Spirit of God showed up to the chaos, He hovered there, dreaming. Not condemning, not cleaning and organizing, but dreaming, ready to open His mouth and bring in the light in the blink of an eye! And I almost feel like He is whispering, "Messes are my favorite, it's where I get to be the most myself! The chaos inspires me, and the emptiness gives me room! Just wait and see what I can do with the madness you think is too crazy for me! If I can make the world you see out of the formless emptiness I found in the beginning, what makes you think I'm going to run away from your mistakes and blunders? You are not so clumsy so as to trip yourself out of my story. You haven't seen anything yet." He doesn't hate the mess, he doesn't run from the chaos, it's not frightening to Him, so even when I'm overwhelmed and undone by the chaos He is not. He speaks light into the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome Him. He is in the business of bringing beauty out of chaos and it didn't end in the garden, and it doesn't end with just me.
In moments like these when the world seems uncertain and wildly messy, know that this is the God we love and serve: The one who looked at the darkness and dreamt up the light.
This was the fist Bible verse I ever memorized. I've been thinking about it a lot lately because I've been thinking about why on earth God would want to make something out of the mess that was the earth. I don't know if you're an artist or familiar with people who do creative things, but usually the first step to a masterpiece is a blank slate, a clean canvas, and a brand new palette with great splashes of color. The beginning of a painting is often the most organized moment of an artists' day, it's when anything can happen and the possibilities are endless.
But that is not the picture we get at the beginning of creation, instead the canvas God is looking at is this: "The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep." (Gen. 1:2a) It was formless and void, in other words, all there was was chaos and emptiness. Not a squeaky clean new canvas, but chaos and darkness. God took one look at the mess and thought, "I can do something with this." He didn't look away from the madness or decide to busy himself doing something else, but he actually hung out in it: "And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." (Gen. 1:2b). I think the Spirit of God was dreaming over the face of the waters, assessing the chaos and visualizing all the beauty that could come from it because in the next breath as if struck by sudden inspiration God says, "Let there be light!" And that was it, suddenly the chaos and void were filled, suddenly there were all the possibilities, suddenly the story began and God's dreams started coming to life! And in this season I think about that, and I can't help but wonder, does it still work this way? Is God still inspired to create in the midst of chaos and emptiness?
Because man, my heart feels so chaotic and my life seems so empty. The current world crisis has only highlighted the fact that my own soul can be the home for chaos and void, and my default thought is, "No one wants a part of this. Everyone needs to stay away, otherwise my chaos will get on them and then we'll all be a mess." I especially think God is not a fan of this mess, that after all these years of following Him and knowing what I should be doing and how I should be living, He looks at the chaos I made and thinks, "I thought we went over this, I thought I just cleaned this up, why are you back here again?" I begin to believe that He's staying away because my mess is shameful and somehow a statement about how maybe I am messed up beyond all hope because it's been this long and I have yet to see perfection.
But then this little verse, the one I memorized when I was just 5 years old comes back to mind and I remember, "The earth was without form and void... and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." The Spirit of God showed up to the chaos, He hovered there, dreaming. Not condemning, not cleaning and organizing, but dreaming, ready to open His mouth and bring in the light in the blink of an eye! And I almost feel like He is whispering, "Messes are my favorite, it's where I get to be the most myself! The chaos inspires me, and the emptiness gives me room! Just wait and see what I can do with the madness you think is too crazy for me! If I can make the world you see out of the formless emptiness I found in the beginning, what makes you think I'm going to run away from your mistakes and blunders? You are not so clumsy so as to trip yourself out of my story. You haven't seen anything yet." He doesn't hate the mess, he doesn't run from the chaos, it's not frightening to Him, so even when I'm overwhelmed and undone by the chaos He is not. He speaks light into the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome Him. He is in the business of bringing beauty out of chaos and it didn't end in the garden, and it doesn't end with just me.
In moments like these when the world seems uncertain and wildly messy, know that this is the God we love and serve: The one who looked at the darkness and dreamt up the light.
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