Creation
I didn’t get very far into today’s reading, which was chapters 1-3 in Genesis. Chapter 1, verse 6, tells us that God separated the waters from the waters. Remember, there was no land yet. The earth, perhaps, wasn’t even a globe yet. He had created the waters and there were two waters so He separated them. Were these two worlds the one we live in and another we aspire to? Perhaps, but I don’t think so.
Application
I once lived in McKinleyville, CA and spent a summer launching fishing boats at a place north of Eureka called Trinidad. Every morning I would drive through the thick fog of the Northern California coast through the giant redwood trees, some towering three hundred feet with trunks so broad you can drive a car through them.
We secured the boats on their trailers at the boat launch, lifted them, and then lowered them by winch onto a railroad car which we would lower into the harbor. The fog was so heavy that your clothing would become wet. I would often ride on the cart down to the water so that I could communicate by radio to the person operating the winch, otherwise they would not know when the boat had reached the water.
As the morning moved along, the darkness that was prevalent around us would fade. You could look out toward the sea and there was no separation between the heavy wet fog above and the ebbing tide below. I would watch as the running lights on each fishing boat disappeared into the mist.
Then, almost magically, I would watch a small cushion of air form and separate the fog from the waters. You could then see boats out on the horizon. As the morning progressed, the jagged rocks would appear and you could feel the warmth as the sun would break through.
The Plan
To me, that is the scene we have here in Genesis. The mist was hovering over the water, and they were inseparable. Then, as the light came into the world, they parted, leaving that layer of atmosphere which would contain carbon dioxide, which the plants God would speak into existence would need to thrive.
Without creating the plants first, they could not turn the carbon dioxide into oxygen and provide the environment needed for man and beast to survive. I love how magnificently God had planned every detail out. There is so much order in everything He created.
I also see a parallel in this imagery of my transformation. I was just that cold, still silent morning. There were waves pulsing within me and you could hear them washing on the shoreline. But you could not see through the darkness. My own beliefs in science blinded me. Then God separated those waters, and the light came into me. He gave me the ability to experience life.
Warmed by the sun and surrounded by beauty, I sometimes forget the eeriness that preceded it. I recall the effort I exerted on the job, but I overlook God’s lifting of the darkness from my life.
May we always remember to humble ourselves and spend time with God so that our hearts may never grow weary?
Later, as I ate lunch on the pier, I would watch harbor seals playfully cavorting upon the boats anchored in the bay. They would swim through the water, propel themselves out of it to land upon the tarps that covered the boats; slide across and then shoot off into the water again. Little did I know that years later, I would be telling my son about those playful seals. I didn’t know what God had in store for me because I was just beginning to see the beauty He had created.
How much more splendid will heaven be when our eyes can grasp all that God has created for us?
