GOD IS UP TO SOMETHING

In my previous post, I reflected on Genesis 1:2 and the conditions in the world prior to Creation. The short version is that “earth was formless and empty.” This one verse contains the equation that makes all the difference: Nothing + Someone [God] = Something. In this case, it was something big, as God the Creator spoke all of Earth’s creation into existence. That is the Creation story. Every time we experience God’s creation, the beauty and variety, we should take it as a divine reminder that when God is near, even when there is nothing, He can do something.

There are different phrases I have heard people use to describe when they have reached the ‘end’ of themselves: “I’ve got nothing” or “I’m gassed” or “This is the end of me” or, in a moment of personal defeat, “I’m done.” Most of us have likely expressed something similar in our lives. For some, it may have been very recently. Life is hard. Sometimes we receive unexpected news, or life takes a devastating turn, or we are pushed to the edge of our emotions and our capacity to persevere is depleted. As we assess our losses and focus on the little or nothing we have left, that is when despair and hopelessness enters the picture. Our perspective is dimmed by the surrounding darkness, to the point we don’t see that Someone is still very much “hovering” (Genesis 1:2) over our lives. The familiar axiom is: ‘No God, no peace; know God, know peace.” The word, HOPE, could be inserted in the place of peace to refresh our perspective, as well.

May today’s blog post be a simple reminder to you and I, that God doesn’t need anything to create a miracle in our lives. He created the world from nothing. It is likely that your ‘nothing’ is more of a feeling than a fact. That said, even if you are at the place of nothing, that does not hinder God from creating something new in your life.

The Lord your God is with you,
    the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
    in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
    but will rejoice over you with singing.”

Zephaniah 3:17 New International Version (NIV)

NOTHING TO SOMETHING

We are nearing the growing season here in Oregon. Within several months home gardens will be sprouting from depths of dark soil. From small seeds, life will emerge and through exposure to sun and water, delicious vegetables will eventually be harvested. I am still somewhat in awe at the explosion of life that germinates from such a small seed, even though I have witnessed this miracle a multitude of times.

There is another miracle I want to reflect on today. This is the miracle of something coming from nothing—from nothing to something. Most of us have been in that place where we have nothing, see nothing, and feel nothing. Life’s road has led us to a dead end. Our dreams are dead, our hope has been crushed, we have lost our ability to see beyond our painful present.

The second verse of the Bible, Genesis 1:2 (New Living Translation), reads: “The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters.” This is an apt description of ‘nothing’ or ‘next to nothing.’ Or is it? The remaining portion of the verse offers a critical detail: “And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.” Even though creation was in a state of ‘nothing’, something, make that Someone, was suspended over the nothingness. When the Spirit of God is present, there is a miracle in the making; nothing is about to become something.

I want to continue this thought in my next blog post, but for now I want to encourage you to consider what Paul, the first Christian missionary, wrote in his letter to the Colossians (1:15-17 New Living Translation):

¹⁵ Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,

¹⁶ for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. 

¹⁷ He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.