Genesis 1:1-2
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”
These familiar lines used to excite me. As a kid, I absolutely LOVED how the Bible started. Perhaps it was another version of “Once upon a time,” I don’t know. Then for a decade or two, the words above lost their luster. Well, they didn’t, I did. If we’re going to be honest, here, that is.
It’s been a while and I’m not sure when it happened, but they excite me again. These lines begin a story of hope and potential. The subtext is “anything is possible.” It starts quick and clean, “in the beginning.” There was nothing before. What we are about to witness is not the result of something, but it is the cause of all causes. Everything that we are and know right now shares something with this moment.
There is rich anticipation in these words. Formless means that things are about to take shape. Empty implies a coming fullness. Darkness means that light is on the way. And the Spirit of God is right there… is always right there.
Reflect:
On the verses. What do you feel when you read them? If you close your eyes and say them to yourself, what do you see or sense?
Journal:
How courageous it must be to bring those words into our lives. How brave to bring that hope and potential into the lines that we have lived.
What would come next for you? How would you follow “In the beginning…”
Pray:
For God to reveal the potential in the areas of your uncertainty.
For whatever He wants to form in, with and through you.
For His presence.