“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.” Genesis 1:1-2 NIV
Have you ever had an area of your life spiral out of control and collapse? If you have, you’re not alone. Most people have gone through times when their health, finances, career, relationships or spiritual life descended into total chaos. Those seasons can be extremely frustrating and confusing—especially when the trouble invades multiple areas at the same time.
The biblical account of creation in Genesis reveals some very practical truth that can equip us to deal with the mayhem that sometimes invades our lives. Genesis 1:2 uses three key words to describe the condition of the earth at that stage of the creation process. The first word is formless—which basically means that the earth had no effectively structured form because there was an absence of order. The second word is empty—which indicates an absence of substance. And the third word that described the earth’s condition is darkness—which portrays an absence of light. When all of these conditions are combined, the situation can only be described as total chaos. Every person that has ever lived has encountered disorder, emptiness and darkness at some point. We all have to deal with chaos in one form or another.
But God has not left us without hope or without help. As we continue to read the creation story—verses 2 and 3 declare that “the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” There is an antidote to chaos! When God spoke his Word into the chaos—it responded immediately. By the power of his Word, the Lord transformed disorder into order, emptiness into fullness and darkness into light.
And the same Spirit of God that was hovering over the chaos during creation—is still hovering over our chaos today! Many times, when we are overwhelmed with the problems of life, it can feel like God is nowhere near us. But that could not be further from the truth. The Spirit of the Lord is hovering over our turmoil, just waiting for us to invite him in. And when we humble ourselves and ask for his help—he will speak his Word into our situation and transform our disorder into order, our emptiness into fullness and our darkness into light! You do not have to live in chaos and confusion. Invite the Lord into your troubles and when he speaks his Word into your life—choose to walk in that Word!
