PORTION SUMMARY

The third reading from the book of Genesis is named Lech Lecha. It means “go forth.” The first verse says, “Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go forth (lech lecha ) from your country.'” Section Lech Lecha introduces Abraham and tells the story of his pilgrimage in pursuit of God.

In verse one we see that God told Abraham to get up and leave his homeland, his family, his friends and go.  He didn’t give Abraham an itinerary.  There was no destination mentioned.  It was simply a command for Abraham to get up and go.  Leave your comfort zone and I’ll let you know later where you are going.

How many of us would have enough faith to follow God?  We have been raised all our lives with the concept of the sovereign God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  But Abraham didn’t have that foundation or background.  He had nothing to go on.  However, something stirred within Abraham that made him obey the voice of this foreign God.  How was he to know is this the real deal or not?  We don’t know how God spoke to Abraham, but it must have been very persuasive for him to leave everything and follow a God that was heretofore unknown to him to an unknown land for an unknown purpose.

This morning I would like to focus on verses 2 and 3.

GEN 12

Genesis 12:2-3  My heart’s desire is to make you into a great nation, to bless you, to make your name great so that you may be a blessing.  (3)  My desire is to bless those who bless you, but whoever curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

All the other translations that I read did not mention anything about my heart’s desire.  The text would just say “I will bless you”.  So I don’t know how the translators came up with that heart’s desire language but I like it.  The key word that we will look at this morning is “bless”.  In Hebrew it is ‘barak’.  ברך .  You are familiar with the root word because we use it every day for various blessings.  Baruch atah Adonai…..

Looking at this verse we can see some important things.

1. God will bless us!

So how did I get from God saying He will bless Abraham to saying that God will bless us?  Well, it’s because the covenant is for Abraham’s seed too.

Genesis 17:7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you.

We are the seed of Abraham.  If we are Jewish, then we are physical descendants and if we are Gentiles, then we are spiritual descendants of Abraham.

Galatians 3:29  And if you belong to Messiah, then you are Abraham’s seed—heirs according to the promise.

Therefore, we are heirs of the covenant that God made with Abraham.  The promises that God made with Abraham are promises to each and every one of us, if we believe that Yeshua is the Messiah.

Paul spoke of being grafted in in his letter to the kehila at Rome.

Romans 11:17-24  But if some of the branches were broken off and you—being a wild olive—were grafted in among them and became a partaker of the root of the olive tree with its richness,  (18)  do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, it is not you who support the root but the root supports you.

(19)  You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.”  (20)  True enough. They were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but fear—

(21)  for if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you.  (22)  Notice then the kindness and severity of God: severity toward those who fell; but God’s kindness toward you, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off!

(23)  And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in; for God is able to graft them in again.

(24)  For if you were cut out of that which by nature is a wild olive tree, and grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?

He is speaking to the Gentiles here not to be arrogant that they were grafted in because the Jews were cut off in unbelief.  Because, he says, the Jews can be grafted back in if they put their faith and trust in Yeshua.  We are all the same in God’s eyes.

Ok, so now what’s the purpose in this blessing?  Surely God didn’t bless Abraham just because He liked him.

1. The purpose of God’s blessing is to be a blessing to others.

Yeshua told the story of a selfish rich man. God requires much of us as recipients of the promise!

Luke 12:16-21  And Yeshua told them a parable, saying, “The land of a certain rich man produced good crops.  (17)  And he began thinking to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do? I don’t have a place to store my harvest!’

(18)  And he said, ‘Here’s what I’ll do! I’ll tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I’ll store all my grain and my goods.

(19)  And I’ll say to myself, ’O my soul, you have plenty of goods saved up for many years! So take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry.”’

(20)  But God said to him, ‘You fool! Tonight your soul is being demanded back from you! And what you have prepared, whose will that be?’  (21)  So it is with the one who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich in God.”

God has a purpose for each one of us.  I’ve said many times that God expects us to work in His kingdom and not live of spiritual welfare.

Luke 12:48b  … From everyone given much, much will be required; and from the one for whom more is provided, all the more they will ask of him.

We have been given the gift of redemption and the privilege of communion with Yeshua for eternity.  So, yes, God expects a lot from us.

And while there is a universality to this principle of blessing, there is a specific application. There was a specific blessing in mind, which was Yeshua HaMashiach.

KNOWING TO SOWING

We cannot say that now that Yeshua has come, the covenant, and its responsibilities are gone. We must continue to bring the good news of Yeshua to others, to bring them under the blessing of the New Covenant. It is not enough to know that Yeshua is the Divine Messiah, for even the demons in hell concede that. We are called to grow within the vine, then serve others, then sow to expand the harvest.

Listen to what Yeshua said.

John 12:32  And as I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to Myself.”

We who have received the blessings of Life in Yeshua, have a responsibility to bring this same Messiah to others.

Acts 3:6  But Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give to you—in the name of Yeshua ha-Mashiach ha-Natzrati, get up and walk!”

Peter got it.  After all his failures, he finally figured out his purpose in life.  He was to bring the Besorah, the Good News of Yeshua to a world that was lost in sin.  So how do we fulfil our responsibility of our blessing.

• We are a blessing by giving our time, talent, and treasures.

1. Prayer

2 Thessalonians 3:1  Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the word of the Lord may spread quickly and be glorified—just as it is with you.

I have often heard people say that they don’t have any talent, or resources, or abilities that would be useful for the Kingdom.  Some have told me that they have physical challenges that prevent them from doing a lot for the Lord.  Let me tell you, just about the most important thing you can do is pray.  Pray for me, pray for Tree of Life, pray for your neighbor.  Just pray.  Prayer important and it is powerful.

FINANCES

The kingdom of God is advanced by the tithes and offerings of the Body of Believers.  It always has been and always will be until the end of time.

2 Corinthians 9:7  Let each one give as he has decided in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion—for God loves a cheerful giver.

RESOURCES

Luke 8:3  Joanna, the wife of Kuza, Herod’s finance minister; Susanna; and many others—were supporting them out of their own resources.

During the ministry of Yeshua here on earth there were people who saw that He was sent by God and wanted to be a blessing.  Even people who were in the household of Herod were supporting the ministry and needs of Yeshua and His disciples!

PHYSICAL BODIES

1. Giving of ourselves.

Many of you know that one of my favorite verses in the Bible is found in Romans 12:1.

Romans 12:1  I urge you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice—holy, acceptable to God—which is your spiritual service.

PHYSICAL LABOR

Your spiritual service, avodah and kavana.  Your purpose in worship and service to the Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:58  Therefore, my dearly loved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord—because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Nothing that we do for the Lord is without value.  Remember that even a cup of water given in His name is notable.

DISCIPLESHIP

1. Through our connection with Yeshua we are to be a blessing to the whole earth.

God gave Abraham this promise for the purpose of bringing blessing to the whole earth.  Of course we see that this blessing for the whole earth is not from us, but through us by the blood of Yeshua the Messiah.  We are His emissaries, His sent out ones.

Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, immersing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Ruach ha-Kodesh,

We often talk about being holy, separated, apart, dedicated.  Use whatever word suites your purpose.  But in God’s overall plan, we have a supporting role.  In fact, since Yeshua has now ascended, we have a leading role in the advancement of the Kingdom, but advancement is not the end of the command. We are to teach and disciple the ones who have found the Messiah.

The world was not an afterthought but was part of the original plan.

Galatians 3:8-9  The Scriptures, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the Good News to Abraham in advance, saying, “All the nations shall be blessed through you.”  (9)  So then, the faithful are blessed along with Abraham, the faithful one.

Yeshua commissioned us to bring this blessing to the whole world.

SLIDE 27: RED HEART VINE

Acts 1:8  But you will receive power when the Ruach ha-Kodesh has come upon you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and through all Judah, and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

So, in closing, let’s look back at the title of this lesson.  Blessed to be a blessing.

We have certainly been blessed through our salvation in Yeshua.  What do we do with that blessing?

Simply put, we bring the good news of Yeshua to the world.  How we do it is as varied as how many of us there are in this room.  None of us is identical and our ministry to others will be just as diverse.  How you bring the good news is up to you, just use your blessing to be a blessing.

PORTION SUMMARY

The second reading in the book of Genesis is named after Noah. In Hebrew, the name Noah is spelled Noach. The word Noach is related to the Hebrew word for “rest.” Genesis 5:29 says that his parents named him Noah (Noach, נח) because they hoped their son would give them rest (nacham, נחם) from their toil. The contents of section Noah tell the story of Noah’s flood, the tower of Babel and the beginning of the Abrahamic line.

Let’s look at the first verse in today’s Parsha.

Genesis 6:9  These are the genealogies of Noah. Noah was a righteous man. He was blameless among his generation. Noah continually walked with God.

Look at the last few words.  “Noah continually walked with God”.  How many times do we find similar wording in the Bible?  Before we get to those verses, let’s look at what the word walked means.

HALAKAH

What is the word that is translated as “walk?”  It is the Hebrew word ‘halakh’ or halakha.  The root word means to walk or to go or to travel.  In all the examples cited above the Bible uses one form or another of the word halakh, heh, lamed, kaf.  The word halakha come to mean much more than just a description of motion using our feet.

Over the centuries volumes of commentary on the Torah have been written to explain every aspect of Jewish life, culture, thought and custom based on the Torah itself as oral traditions handed down from generation to generation.  In essence, halakha has come to mean an all encompassing word to describe how to live an authentic Jewish lifestyle.

The late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks said “The central underlying proposition of the halakhah is that it articulates, within the limits of human understanding, the will of God as set forth in the Torah.”

With that thought in mind, let’s looks at some Bible verses regarding walking with God.

Adam walked with God in the Garden.

Genesis 3:8  They heard the voice of Adonai, God, walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, so the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Adonai, God, among the trees in the garden.

Even though it doesn’t say that Adam walked with God in the garden of Eden, it does say that God walked in the garden in the evening.  So I’m going to make an assumption that Adam tagged along.  What was God’s will for Adam in the garden?  We know he was given work to do.  Adam was not created to sit on the bank of the river in his birthday suit all day long, contemplating his navel.

He was created to praise and worship God.  He was given the task to tend the garden and to name all the animals.  Adam had work to do.  So do we.  God did not create us for a life of leisure and luxury.  He gave us work to do.  Yeshua’s parting words before his ascension was a charge to go into the world and make disciples of all men.  Walking with God does not mean sitting on the couch playing video games or watching soap operas.

In last week’s Parsha we read about Enoch.  Enoch walked continually with God

Genesis 5:22-24  Now Enoch walked with God continually for 300 years after he fathered Methuselah, and he fathered sons and daughters.  (23)  So all of Enoch’s days were 365 years.

(24)  And Enoch continually walked with God—then he was not there, because God took him.

There are literally thousands of sermons based on those three verses regarding Enoch.  For centuries, preachers have been pontificating and inventing character traits for Enoch based solely on 31 Hebrew words in verses 22-24.  Amazing sermon fodder to the inth degree.  But we know that Enoch must have been quite a man for God to take him to eternity without dying

NOACH

Noach walked continually with God

Genesis 6:9  These are the genealogies of Noah. Noah was a righteous man. He was blameless among his generation. Noah continually walked with God.

We have already looked at this verse regarding Noah.  We know from the Parsha that Noah was not idle.  He worked for 120 years building the ark.  But I would like to point out something.  Although Noah walked uprightly before the Lord.  He was a Tzadik, a righteous man, he was not a leader.

Now why do I say that?  In the 120 years that he was building the ark, there is no record of him ever leading anyone to repent of their wicked ways.  He himself was righteous but led no one else to righteousness.  In that regard, Noah failed in his walk with the Lord because certainly it was God’s desire that men would repent and change their ways.

ABRAHAM

Abraham walked before God

Genesis 17:1  When Abram was 99 years old, Adonai appeared to Abram, and He said to him, “I am El Shaddai. Continually walk before Me and you will be blameless.

The language here is a little confusing.  Abram walked before the Lord?  Does this mean that God followed Abram around?  Of course not, but you wouldn’t believe how many commentaries I’ve read making some kind of thing about how if we walk in righteousness, then God will follow us and make us successful and prosperous.  That is total baloney.  All it meant was that Abram walked in the presence of God similar to soldiers on parade who march in front of the generals who sit in a reviewing stand.  They march before the generals.  Abraham lived his life as if he was being viewed and inspected by God.  Did he make mistakes?  Did he get out of step sometimes?  Yes he did, but don’t we all?  How many of you have never missed a step and stumbled?  I know I have.  And yet God was there to pick me up, dust me off and set me back on track to accomplish His mission for me in life.

It may also have meant that Abraham leaned constantly into ADONAI as an infant is continuously supported by his father, as he learns to take baby steps in trust.

ISRAEL

Requirement for Israel

Deuteronomy 10:12  “So now, O Israel, what does Adonai your God require of you, but to fear Adonai your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve Adonai your God with all your heart and with all your soul,

There are many such verses addressed to Israel and Judah regarding walking in His ways, in God’s ways.

The Believer’s walk with Yeshua is a walk of imitation.

It may be the most classic recurrent gag in screen history. One character asks another for directions. The second character helpfully responds, “Walk this way,” and starts leading. The first character obligingly mimics his guide’s weird manner of walking.

Imitation is at the core of discipleship. If we are disciples of Yeshua, then we should copy him.

Our Master himself said,

“A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who fully trained will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40).

Paul told the Corinthians,

“Be imitators of me, as I also am of Messiah” (1 Corinthians 11:1).

As everyone ought to know, Yeshua was an observant Jew. Like other observant Jews at the time, he would have followed the Torah’s dietary laws, such as those found in Leviticus 11. He would have refrained from work on the Sabbath. Tzitzit would have adorned his four-cornered cloak, and he certainly would not have worn the combination of wool and linen.

PHARISEES

Yeshua’s original disciples were also Jews. But when Gentile disciples entered the picture, the apostles considered the possibility that they would need to become Torah-observant Jews as well:

Acts 15:5-6  But some belonging to the party of the Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to command them to keep the Torah of Moses.”  (6)  The emissaries and elders were gathered together to examine this issue.

The apostles would already have understood that some commandments apply to all humanity. For example, God instructed Noah that societies must hold murderers accountable (Genesis 9:6). But should Gentile followers of Yeshua keep special laws given to the Jewish people, such as wearing tzitzit?

The apostles concluded that Gentiles do not need to become like Jews. Rather, when Gentiles turn to God as members of their own nation and tribe, it fulfills messianic prophecy.

ACTS 15

They issued a clear ruling that imposed only a minimal set of additional rules on Gentile disciples:

Acts 15:28-29  It seemed good to the Ruach ha-Kodesh and to us not to place on you any greater burden than these essentials:  (29)  that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. By keeping away from these things, you will do well. Shalom!”

The apostles’ ruling creates a conundrum, however. How can Gentile disciples imitate their Jewish Master without living as a Jew? To answer this, we must realize what it means to walk as he walked.

Paul was already an observant Jew before he was called into discipleship. He kept kosher and observed the Sabbath. His clothes bore tzitzit and were not made of combined wool and linen. If he did these things before knowing Yeshua, in what ways did he imitate his Master? What about his life changed due to his encounter with the risen Messiah?

Acts 5:14 speaks of the many Jewish women who became disciples. Even though Yeshua is male, surely they did not begin to observe the Torah as if they were men like him. How did these women apply their responsibility to imitate their Master?

Acts 6:7 tells us that many priests also became disciples. The Torah lays several obligations on descendants of Aaron that do not apply to others. Surely, they did not begin neglecting their priestly duties in imitation of Yeshua. What then did discipleship add to their lives?

Yeshua’s obligation to the Torah is based on the circumstances of his birth. As an adult male who is Jewish but not a Levite or descendant of Aaron, he shares his set of Torah obligations with everyone else in that demographic. To mechanically adopt those responsibilities as a Jewish male would be missing the point of what it means to imitate him. It would be like limping because someone told you to “walk this way.”

Imitating Yeshua, as a disciple, means evaluating the principles that guided his choices. It means discovering and applying his values, his priorities, his goals, and his purposes. As disciples, we are to focus on the issues he spoke about and the message that impassioned him, rather than the incidental circumstances he was in. Like every person, he was handed a certain set of obligations—but what did he do with those obligations?

For example, we know that he was fully observant of dietary laws in a manner that was normative for observant Jews in his society. On the other hand, we have no evidence that he had strong opinions about the details of dietary law. On topics ancillary to dietary law, such as ritual purity and tithing, he expressed the firm opinion that one must not use those external observances as a pretext for hatred or a diversion from our duty to love. This is a principle for all disciples to apply.

Yeshua observed the commandments in the Torah. He also issued commandments to his disciples; that’s what makes him our Master. He commanded us to give without seeking repayment, pray persistently, and lay down our lives for one another. Yeshua’s “word”—an idiomatic term meaning his message to the world—was that all should repent in anticipation of the coming kingdom.

Commandments such as these are what John meant when he wrote:

1 John 2:4-6  The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.  (5)  But whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God is truly made perfect. We know that we are in Him by this—  (6)  whoever claims to abide in Him must walk just as He walked.

GOD EMPOWERS YOU

This morning we have looked at some of the ways in which Biblical characters walked with God.  Some seemed to be very adept and successful in that endeavor.  Others struggled to keep up.  That is one thing that I appreciate about God’s word.  It is not a record of perfect people who never failed but always triumphed.  On the contrary.  The Bible is a real life book about real life people just like you and me.  We try, we fail.  We get up and try again and succeed.  Next time we might win or we might lose.  Regardless, the point is to keep getting up and walking with the Lord.  We might fall, but our Messiah is right there alongside us to pick us up and set us on the right track again.  Don’t give up walking just because you stumble and fall.  Imitate Yeshua as best you can and you will never go wrong.

Here we are at the beginning of a new Torah Reading cycle.  We celebrated Simchat Torah last Tuesday evening, and I hope you all got a new appreciation for the Torah.  The Torah portion for today is B’reisheet, and in Hebrew means “in the beginning”.

The English name Genesis comes from the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible.  Genesis means “origins”.  Therefore, the Greek name for the first book of the Bible means “The Book of Origins.”

Genesis describes the origins of everything.  It begins with the origins of the universe, focuses on the origins of man, and then explores the origins of the nation of Israel.

As we study the first reading from the book of Genesis, we will learn a great deal about God, but even more about ourselves.  After all, this is the story of our origins.  When properly understood, the story of our origin helps us find our destination.

Genesis 1:1  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

“In the beginning,” is talking about the beginning of what we know as our universe.  God has always existed because He is outside of time and space.  We cannot really even begin to understand all the dimensions of God because He is multidimensional.

Can I give you a simple show and tell object lesson that perhaps will give you a better understanding of what I was describing as the multidimensional aspect of God?  I’m holding in my hand a cube.  You can see it and feel it.  It has substance, and weight.  If I throw it at you and hit you in the head you would definitely know it.  You can see it now in three dimensions.

But if I turn it like this.  You would see only a square.  But the cube is still there, you just can’t see it all.

If I hold it like this, all you see is a line.  But the cube is still there, you just can’t see it all.

If I hold it like this, all you can see is a single point in space.  The cube is still there, you just can’t see all of it.

This, of course, begs the question… If a line is 1D, then what is the point?

(0D, The 4D Cube is called the Tesseract.)

God is all that and more because he exists outside time and space.  He has always existed.  There is a Jewish concept called Tsimtsum, which comes from the fringe study of Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism and magic that originated in the Middle Ages,.  It explains proposes that God is so encompassing of everything that He had to voluntarily reduce His existence a tiny bit so that He would have room for the universe that He created. This is an important concept because it raises the question of free will vs. predetermination. In contracting His presence from the cosmos, God leaves room for human beings to express their faith and independence. But His infinitesimal departure also opens the space for human beings to sin and to give in to temptation. This metaphysical contraction of God leaves the world broken, with the responsibility of mankind to repair the broken space. As Messianic Jews, we know that this theory is dismally flawed because we know we need the Messiah, but the idea of ADONAI contracting Himself to make room for humanity is interesting.

NOW, I would really like to delve into the fact that the earth was tohu and bohu.  Without form and void or chaos and waste.

The first phrase of verse two sounds like this.

וְהָאָרֶץ, הָיְתָה תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ

Genesis 1:2  Now the earth was chaos and waste, darkness was on the surface of the deep, and the Ruach Elohim was hovering upon the surface of the water.

The word translated “was” is the Hebrew word hayah. It is also translated as “became”, so that we could say the earth became without form and void.  God didn’t create a world of chaos and waste.  He is not the God of chaos.  He doesn’t create junk.  Keep that in mind as we go on.

So what we see here is a world that was a total mess.  Nothing was as it was created.  But I want you to look at the last phrase in the verse.  The Ruach Elohim was hovering upon the surface of the water.  The Spirit of God was looking at the chaos that was the earth and things started to happen.

When the Spirit of God shows up there is no room for chaos or disorder.  From this point on we start to see the creation as we know it today.

The word for hover used in verse two is “rachefet”.  The only other place where this verb is used is in Deuteronomy 32:11, where it describes a mother bird beating her wings over her little ones, encouraging them to fly.

Unlike the Babylonian myth of creation, in which the chaos is an enemy to be conquered, this formless mess is to be loved and fostered into being. One of the earliest Jewish commentaries on this text, dating from New Testament times, interpreted it this way: “A spirit of love before the Lord was blowing (hovering) over the face of the waters.” This holy wind is not a part of the chaos, it is God’s motherly love conveying the promise of life, order, and beauty to what was of itself a mess. Because God’s spirit was hovering over it, chaos became promise.

Yeshua used this same imagery to describe his love for Jerusalem.

Luke 13:34  “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.

He was lamenting the future of Jerusalem because he knew what the future held and the desolation that was to come.  He longed for them to be saved because we know that God is not willing for anyone to be lost but that all would come to repentance.

While discussing my thoughts on this drash, my daughter, Cynthia, related that when she thinks of the Spirit of God hovering over the earth she sees a new husband hovering over his precious bride.  I think that is a great example of what Yeshua was saying.  A husband should be there to protect his wife, see to her needs and support her in the difficulties that she may face.

Rav Shaul, the Apostle Paul charged husbands in his letter to the congregation at Ephesus.

(Ephesians 5:25-33) Husbands, love your wives just as Messiah also loved His community and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, having cleansed her by immersion in the word. Messiah did this so that He might present to Himself His glorious community—not having stain or wrinkle or any such thing, but in order that she might be holy and blameless. In the same way, husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it—just as Messiah also does His community, because we are members of His body. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is great—but I am talking about Messiah and His community. In any case, let each of you love his own wife as himself, and let the wife respect her husband.

What a beautiful picture of the Spirit of God hovering over us.

And so we recognize the relevance of this image for our own lives. At times we feel like our lives are a mess. There is no light, and we are floating about like a cork lost at sea. We try to fight it, to no avail. We try to flee, but there is no exit. What do we do? We lift up our petition to the Lord and ask the Holy Spirit to hover over our mess, to embrace it lovingly and prepare it for the light of God’s word. If any of our chaotic depths surface, we then turn them over to the Lord.

As the powerful but wordless Spirit of God prepared for God’s cosmic word, the Holy Spirit lovingly prepares our chaos for the word that will give shape and meaning to what made no sense before.

Remember that God is not the author of confusion and chaos.  He didn’t create junk when He created you.  Yes our lives oftentimes fall apart.  We get sick.  We fail God, we fail our friends and families.  And we even fail ourselves.  But Spirit of God is hovering over our chaotic lives and is there to bring order and beauty from our messy past.  Bring your problems to the Lord and He will hear you.  And when you bring your problems to Him leave them with Him.  Don’t pack them back up and carry them home with you.