CHRISTIAN WALK
Your Genesis Story
By Laura J. Bagby
CBN.com Sr. Producer
CBN.com –
If you are still waiting for the things of God to be manifested
in your life, take heart. There is a time and an order to the
things of God. I know this because I know the beginning of God's
Word. And in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth
in well-planned and glorious stages.
Look back with me for a moment at this important passage found
in Genesis 1:3-2:3. Below I have listed the key events of each
day in God's creation:
- Day 1: God forms the heavens and earth, although undefined. Light is
created. Light is separated from darkness. Day and night are created.
- Day 2: The expanse is separated into sky.
- Day 3: The lower expanse is separated into land and sea. Vegetation
is added.
- Day 4: The sun, moon, and stars are created.
- Day 5: Sea creatures are created. The birds of the air and the fish
of the sea are created.
- Day 6: Animals that live on the land are created. Man is created.
- Day 7: God rests from all of His amazingly good work.
At first glance, this section of Scripture seems merely a familiar passage
learned in Sunday school that has little to do with our day-to-day lives.
On the contrary, there are two powerful truths wrapped up in these verses.
These truths are the key to what is happening in your Christian experience
now.
First, God didn't create the whole world in a day. If the Creator of the
universe didn't do it all in one day, why do we presume that we can? You can't
fix everything in one day. You can't accomplish all of your tasks in one day.
It isn't possible, and by looking at these verses, I would even dare to say
it isn't biblical.
Why did God choose to spread out the details over a six-day period? I can't
help thinking that God did this so that He could show us that life is a process.
Once we become Christians, we don't just suddenly know and do the will of
God without fail. We are still going to struggle with our sinful natures and
our progress toward spiritual maturity. God could have gone POOF! and made
us new creatures who are completed and perfected in Him from that moment on,
but He didn't. Even Jesus, God's own Son, had to walk out a process of spiritual
growth. He had to sit in the synagogues and learn the Word of God, get baptized,
be filled with the Holy Spirit, and then led into the wilderness for 40 days
before He ever officially began His ministry. Why? Because God once again
wanted to pattern out a Genesis 1 experience in the Head of our lives so that
we would follow in His footsteps.
Do we have a Genesis story? We had better believe it! Each God-ordained moment,
each trial, each victory, each testimony that we experience is like a stone,
mortared and ready to build the foundation of our lives. And each stone that
is placed is just one step further toward building a strong, sturdy, and livable
house for the work of God in our lives, a house of worship unto our Lord.
The second point we should understand is that just because we were created
last doesn't mean that we were last on God's mind. Far from it.
Consider your first date with that most special someone. What comes first
isn't the actual date, but rather the preparation period, which includes everything
from envisioning the date several days before to the primping the day of.
Much goes on before the actual date occurs. However, just because the date
might be a week away, doesn't mean that event isn't at the forefront of your
mind. Often, it is the only thing your infatuated mind can think about.
God is the same way. He had you in mind from the beginning and He is passionate
about you. It is just that to get you made the way you need to be made, He
had to get some things in place first. We need air and water and a food supply
before we can survive, so it makes sense that God would make sure that He
had that in place for us first.
Now step back a moment and put this in the context of your life today. What
is God doing behind the scenes to get you ready for where He wants to take
you? He has a vision of what you are going to look like. He has all the details
lined up. It is just that He has to get all His ducks in a row. This might
take some time. How long only God knows. It might be days. It might be weeks.
It might be years. The point is He is going to get there. Why? Because He
has had it planned from the beginning. You can't see it. That is OK. God can.
That is what really matters. Do you know that God is anticipating your coming-out
party? He is! He can't wait to unveil greater things in your life. But first
He has to get your circumstances ready. He has to get others ready. He has
to get you ready, too. The greater the glory, the longer it is going to take.
Remember: It takes nine months for us just to be born. How much longer for
the call of God on your life! But, saints, how great the glory! Be assured
that He who began a good work in you will continue it on to completion until
the day of Christ Jesus.
If things are fuzzy, unformed, seemingly directionless in your Christian
walk, maybe even cloudy and murky at times, congratulations! Be of good cheer!
You are at the beginning. How do I know this? God shows me the pattern back
in Genesis 1:1-2. Just as God during that first day started with a "formless"
and "empty" earth where "darkness was over the surface of the deep," so too
does He take our dark and empty lives and fill the void with His light, planting
within us at the beginning the difference between light and darkness, instructing
us in the very basics of what is good and what is evil.
Whether you are at the very beginning, in your third day, or nearing the
end of a particular God-ordained victory in your life, you can know that God
has it all planned out. He knows exactly how to take you where you need to
be. Only rejoice in the day in which you find yourself knowing that He is
the author and the finisher of your faith.
Comments? E-mail
me.
 Laura J. Bagby produces the Health and Finance channels. She writes inspirational, humor, singles, entertainment, and health articles.
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