"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” -Genesis 1:1-5 NLT
God hovering is an image that intrigues me. It is the word used in the ESV translation, too.
"Râchaph" is the Hebrew word for "hovering". In Strong's concordance, the word râchaph has two points in the definition. The first part of the definition translates "to grow soft, relax." The second part of the definition translates as "to hover". I envision a parent hovering over a cherished child. There is affection, protection and a little bit of wonder, too.
Imagining God looking at the potential in front of him... and the promise of what is to come. Quite frankly... it causes me to pause. Pause and ponder. The "moment" of creation was a major semicolon moment. How a moment measured in God's time is part of the mystery! I love a good mystery.
Imagine God hovering over the raw potential of His creation... with hopes, dreams and longings. Yes, our creator had longings. His creative spirit practiced the pause to take in the full potential of the raw materials he poured into the formless, empty and dark little planet.
Mama Ina Mae was a master at pie crusts. When I was a child, she made them often. Measuring was not as important as feeling the dough to know when it was right. She used all the same raw materials, but weather, humidity and temperature could create havoc with her pastry crust.
She never hurried it. Mama delighted in getting it right. Started over when necessary. Did God do that?
We have a brief synopsis of how creation was put in place. We are, surely, missing many details. The "mind of God" details are absent, for sure. We get a few, but I grew up watching Bob Ross paint. I want to hear his thoughts as he places a happy little cloud or a laughing little stream. What a show it would be if it were God and not Bob!
We do know at completion, He saw it "was good". It was, also, still changing. His precious little plant would live and change with the years. His masterpiece, humans, would fulfill his longing to create something that would choose Him in return out of desire. Not by nature. Not by force. His humans could choose Him or refuse Him.
Choice would be and still remains our superpower. Imagine, again, a God who hovers over this little blue planet and the souls who call it their temporary home.
Today, I am grateful for a hovering God.
No comments:
Post a Comment