I was doing my morning exercise routine when I heard the verse Genesis 1:1-2 being expounded on. I must be honest my mind wanders off when I hear those familiar “Sunday school” stories because I’ve heard them so often.
But this particular morning for some reason it was different. When she read, “In the beginning God created…” Genesis 1:1-2, I was intrigued by the profound simplicity in those verses. I found myself deeply touched at the reminder that God was hovering over the dark, void and mess. So I wanted to share these truths with you that spoke Light into the dark burdens of my heart.
There Was Darkness, Chaos, Void…
Oh, how He loves us!
God is in our midst, even in the mess!
In the next verse, we are reminded that God is in our midst, even in the mess. “and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”
Here we are told how God is at work in the void and darkness. God is in our midst even in the mess.
So many times I feel like God is waiting for me to get my act together so He can join me. He’s waiting for me to get over my grief. Wondering when will I stop being so immature and grow up in my faith. But that’s not what we see here in Genesis or woven throughout scripture. When we allow Him in, God redeems our chaos by wooing us back and reminding us that He is The Creator, the lover of our souls.
Take a minute and ponder the significance of this because this nugget of truth is powerful. It’s easy to read through it really fast because we’ve heard this story over and over again in Sunday school
but give yourself a “Selah” moment to pause and ponder Genesis 1:2.
God is in the mess.
God makes meaning out of our mess.
This message is interwoven throughout the Bible we see it in the beginning at creation. We see it in the life of Joseph when he says to his brothers in Genesis 50:20 “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done.
We see it in the life of Moses, Elijah, Job and in Joel 2:25 our Heavenly Father tells him, I will repay you for all the years the locust have eaten. Paul later reminds us in the New Testament, God makes all things work for the good of those who love Him. Romans 8:28.
So when the enemy comes whispering his venomous lies telling you–You’re weak, you’re a mess, you’ll never be loved, God doesn’t care, God has forgotten you. You tell yourself the truth! The truth found in His word, not in your feelings–our Heavenly Father is the God who sees, El Roi. He is our Almighty God who works things together including my past, for His good. He is Holy and loves us too much to leave us in the mess.
Oh, how He loves us!
God speaks into the Void
In verse 3 God speaks into the void, “God said…”
“Let there be light…”
Much of God’s creativity occurs through speech and God speaks into the void, not with fighting words but lighting words, words that illuminate a world and light our path. God’s first words are “let there be light.” This is how God reacts to the darkness—God creates light. No name-calling, no evil for evil but divine creative words of light and life, which is very different from malformed words that we might have spoken or heard in the past, words that still bounce around in our minds and hearts doing damage till this day. But God’s poetic creativity is a form of resistance to darkness and the formless void. God fills the void with creation and creativity. via Dr. Luke A. Powery sermon from Duke Univ.
God speaks into the void. He did then in the beginning and He does now!
As long as we are on earth we will always encounter “void” whether it’s from death, loss, hurt or the longing for our heavenly home.
He speaks into the darkness and into that void. Will you allow His light to speak into your void? Will you listen?
From my own experience, the enemy is relentless. The habits you’ve created for years are persistent because they are deeply engrained. So you have to lean into His Spirit for strength and for truth-telling. You have to keep telling the devil to back off by reminding yourself of God’s truth or by singing a worship song. Tell the enemy you will not allow darkness to speak louder than His Light. When the gaping hole of darkness comes crouching in, you can call on your daddy, your Almighty Heavenly Father, call on His name.
Even if all you can muster up is this 4 letter word– “Jesus!”
There is power in the name of Jesus!
He will intercede on your behalf. He will have the last word!
The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:5
He loves us.
Go and Speak Light
Our Trinitarian God is the essence of community. His heart to restore us goes beyond just “me” and my present situation. It overflows into our relationships so we can walk alongside someone else in their time of need.
So I challenge you today because there will always be a void somewhere in the world.
Go! Speak light into the darkness of your own life, in the hearts of your children, to our hurting community and struggling friends or co-workers. Speak His truth through prayer, speak His love through a text or a smile, through your words and actions.
Be the light in the void. Speak light.
