Thursday, 08 January 2009
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Be Filled
Genesis 1:2
The description of the earth as “formless and empty” is a frightening picture. We don’t do well with nothingness. Emptiness seems like a death sentence. For some men this description is not a statement about the cosmos but a comment on their lives—“formless and empty.” Does that describe you?
You might be surprised to learn that many men feel this way. They have worked hard to achieve a certain position or status in life. In the early years all the sacrifices seemed worthwhile. The long days and sleepless nights, the time away from family, the hours chiseled off the weekends, all appeared to be needed for the goal. But what about now? Do you wish you could get those days back?
I know what I’m talking about. I entered the doctoral program, moved our family to another state, and began a new pastorate when my twin sons were nine months old. Talk about a challenge! I think I was a reasonably good father, but I know that the stresses and demands of those four years were hard on all of us. I look back at pictures of those days and remember them as time spent working harder than at any time before or since. I loved what I was doing and really thrived. But I know, too, that my family sometimes got the leftovers.
You may know that feeling, too. One man said, “I spent years climbing the ladder of success only to discover it was leaning against the wrong wall.” Look again at today’s Bible verse. The last part reads, “and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” That is what saves the day for us. God is hovering, ready to bring creation out of chaos. Another word for that is salvation in its fullest sense—wholeness, soundness, and unity.
Would you allow the Lord to do his work of bringing creation out of chaos in your life? The last words of our lives do not need to be “formless and empty.” Instead, our lives can include these words: “the Spirit of God was hovering.”
Thank You, Lord, for hovering around my life. At times I seem to be a walking embodiment of “darkness was over the surface.” But You have intervened both in creation and in my life. Give me strength, unity, and purpose. Through Jesus’ name, Amen.
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