Present

"The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters." -Genesis 1.2

Chaos, that is the picture of Genesis 1.2. The earth has no form, and it is void and empty. It is dark, cold, and silent. There is no land, no light, no birds singing, and no tress from them to sing from. It sounds miserable and honestly, a bit frightening. And yet, we see that God is there, and He is active. In the midst of the chaos, God is present, and He is moving over the surface of the deep.

God is present in the chaos, always. For my undergraduate degree I took a class on Job and Psalms, and the biggest thing I took from the class is that God's silence is not equivalent to His absence. At this point in the creation narrative, God has not yet spoken. He has been silent, allowing the darkness and chaos to rule, but He is not absent, and He is not stagnant. He is there, and He is moving.

It is so easy to feel that God is not present when things are difficult and uncertain. When God does not answer prayer it is so easy to feel that He hasn't noticed or doesn't care. But the Bible shows us here, that even in the darkest moment, before light had ever been created, God was there. The darkness does not chase Him away, the silent void does not incapacitate Him. In the midst of chaos, God is always present.

TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!

Peace be with you