Seizing Control

God’s Spirit brooded
like a bird
above the watery abyss.

Genesis 1:1c (The Message)

In the beginning, there was water. It is the single most important substance, besides oxygen, that allows us to live. We take it for granted until it isn’t there or when there is too much. Recently the Mississippi has illustrated the results of excess water. Livelihoods are being destroyed--the very substance that sustained farming livelihoods is now washing it away.

There are scientific reasons for floods based on weather patterns but experts are also saying that part of the problem is man. For centuries we have yearned to tame our landscape often upsetting the balance of God’s creation. There’s a reason why the soil is so fertile in the central states along the Mississippi. At one time the Mississippi was free to run over its banks, without hindrance, washing the earth with rich nutrients. In God’s creation there is order, not chaos.

Of course, the world has gotten older and more crowded with demands on God’s creation becoming more and more intense. We see land under water that could be used for our benefit and so levees are built to hold back the powerful substance in order to plant and grow because at this point the world cannot be fed without land.

When God’s Spirit brooded like a bird over the waters I wonder what He envisioned. Surely he knew what would transpire once the watery abyss was divided and man would seek to control what God had set in motion. I am not saying that God causes flooding catastrophes. They do remind us, however, that in the beginning God had a plan and knew how everything should work in an orderly fashion.

Our mistake with the earth, as in most areas of our lives, is that we try to seize control and create only chaos.

God, thank you for creating the world

to work in balance. You created order!
Forgive me when I create chaos
by seizing control of the happenings of my life.
Amen.