I have the pleasure of leading a Wednesday morning chapel time with our Learning Center children. I spent the first four weeks of school talking about God’s work of creation. We reviewed that God created light and dark, day and night, the waters, the land, all the plants and vegetation, animals and then, us.
Two learnings have long intrigued me about that story: First, only God truly “creates.” The universe and everything in it comes through the will and work of God’s being, and it’s a work we cannot will. We certainly can manipulate and study creation in all kinds of ways: from molecular level research and genetic studies to sending vehicles to other planets and even into the deepest reaches of space. But, we cannot create from nothing. The deeper we delve into the wonder of creation, the more deeply we can peer into majesty of God’s handiwork.
Second, when you read the creation story of Genesis chapter one, you find the curious repetition of a phrase: And there was evening, and there was morning — the first day. (NIV). Eugene Peterson in his book, “Working the Angles,” noted the order of the verse — there was evening, and then there was morning. The same order appears with each of the six days of creation. He finds the order rather interesting: The day begins with evening and ends with the day. That means the day really does begin when most of us are typically asleep. The notion we often live with is that the day begins as we awake. We so easily forget that while we are asleep, God already is making preparations for the next day before we every rise up. He’s resting, repairing and restoring our bodies and souls in ways we can scarcely understand. While we do nothing in our sleep, God is busy readying us for the day to come — and God does so without any help from us!
One of the reasons we find ourselves so tired, burned out and immersed in tension is that we still believe everything begins and ends in us — a way of life that will rob us of the life we are designed to enjoy. All we can ever do is respond to the work God already has wrought for us. God creates us, God calls us, God rises and sets the sun, moon, stars and a countless array of other blessings without a lick of help from you or me. Creation itself was all done for us long before we ever rose up. Long before we ever begin making decisions that will impact the course of our day, God has long been at work for us to His glory.
Of course, when we do rise up, we will be called upon to use our God given skills wisely, judiciously and graciously to His glory. We will be called upon to make some very difficult decisions. We will be called to look out for our families, our neighbors and the strangers among us. We will be called to missions fields on the other side of the world, the other side of town or, perhaps, under our own roof. But, all this happens in the presence of the Lord, who is always ahead of us and awaits our arrival each day. When you think of someone such as the Apostle Paul and his extraordinary missionary accomplishments, he never led his efforts — he followed the lead of the Lord, Jesus, who called him forth.
The Lord always goes before us, ever leading, ever guiding and ever creating — long before we ever get involved. It seems to me that grasping this point in our lives should lead us to simple peace, a peace that leads us to a good night’s sleep, even in the midst of a maddening world. Do yourself a big favor: When you lie down for bed tonight, know the Lord has led you there and sets you down to rest. Simply offer a little prayer of thanks for the blessing that, as you rest, He’s already at work in your tomorrow. Let Him bless you with a good night’s rest, so you will be ready to join in the day He’s already begun for you. Praise be to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit!
“I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint. At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been pleasant to me.” — Jeremiah 31:25-26.
Dr. David Delph is pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Plant City. For more, email him at ddelph@tampabay.rr.com.