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)