A God's Eye View

God made the world with a rhythm in mind

I don’t know about you, but I do not think the way God created the world was coincidence or accident; I think he had a great plan and purpose in mind and he did things in the best way to accomplish what his will was for this world and everything in it.

So with this in mind let us look at some of the order of creation and see what it might tell us about how God made us, human beings, to function. First consider the events of the first day of creation:

Genesis 1:1–5 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.”

So God creates the heavens and the earth, and the first item of business- he makes a day; light and dark; day and night; a rhythm of sun up and sun down that will frame the rest of his work in the world— before he made people or animals, or waterfalls he made a day.

But we are not done yet- day 2 God makes sky and day 3 God makes land and vegetation; ; and day 4 we see a rhythm again-

Genesis 1:14–19 “And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.”

God makes seasons, days, years- a Cadence- a rhythm and its not until day 6 that God makes mankind and places Adam and Eve into the rhythm he created to live, work, and worship.

Notice also that God gave man dominion over all the animals and gave him the plants for food; God even gives Adam the power to name the animals in chapter 2; but not the day- Adam has no authority to mess with the times and seasons- the cadence that God has ordained- that is God’s and Adam has no power over it.

The parts of creation that so many of us love- sunrise and sunsets; fall leaves and snow; the stars; they are not just there for us to enjoy, they are there to remind us of the rhythm we are created in.

But there is more, throughout the OT God instituted 7 feasts for the people to observe. Times when the entire Jewish world would shut down- like Chick-fil-A shut down! These times were built in for everyone in the society to pause and worship, connect with God, and recharge.

In other words, even though the people of God were called to live out their faith each day; they were asked to pray and mediate on the word of God; they were called to obey the Sabbath each week; 7 times a year they were to observe these feasts to open up space for a deeper and closer more intimate connection with God.

We Were Not Made to Live in Chaos

Did you know that 7 in 10 Americans say they wish there was more time in a day. They say that in a 24 hour period they do not have enough time to accomplish all the things they want/need to do.

Now, here is what is interesting about that-

We live in a world that is faster than ever- literally. Cars that go 70-80mph on the interstate; planes that can carry us from one side of the country to the other- we can cover more physical ground that any other time in history

We live in a world that is more automated than ever- from computers that process, file, and store our info; to robot vacuums and technology has made many tasks more efficient if not effortless

We live in a world that is more connected than ever. With texting and emailing communications that used to take days of weeks can happen in moments; information that would take days or weeks to find can be googled in seconds.

But with all this increase we are more tired than ever, and still complaining that we need more time—- it’s like we got more space in the container, but instead of keeping the space we filled it up with even more stuff!

But what if the problem is not that we don’t have time——but that we are out of time—- out of rhythm. What if as a world we have stretched the symphony of God out too much and tried to cram way too much in?

What if I told you that your tiredness might not be a physical problem- what if I told you it just might be a spiritual problem?

Here’s the thing, this world is tainted with sin, and you know what sin causes? Chaos. A world that is moving faster, more out of control, and more violently than it was ever intended too.

What would God say about this? Well, the Scriptures tell us in 1 Corinthians 14:33 “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints,”

And I know, some of us say “peace, can I get some of that, please?”

And throughout the next few weeks we are going to talk about how we can find that peace, but for today let’s just think about a beginning point for this peace, and we find it is Psalm 1

Psalm 1 ESV

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Where does this peace begin? In meditating on the law of the Lord day and night. This is more than just reading the Bible friends, there are plenty of people in the world who can quote Bible verses all day but their lives are not impacted, governed, or even bothered by the words they can recite. No, Psalm 1 calls us to meditate on the Word of God.

Yesterday our family celebrated dad’s last radiation treatment together with a big meal, and my part was the meat- so I smoked a delicious brisket- tender and juicy and delicious. But do you know what made it tender and juicy and delicious? 18 hours in the smoke! I put that brisket in the smoker at 9pm on Friday night and it sat in the smoke until 3pm yesterday. Low and slow letting all that smoke work into every part of that meat. Smoking is a slow process that requires time, patience, and commitment.

This is the same when it comes to pulling our lives out of chaos and connecting them to the peace of God- there is not a magic one moment or one day fix. It takes time, patience, and commitment.

Why? Because trees do not grow overnight. They grow little by little one day at a time.

Sounds like something Jesus once prayed- give us this day our daily bread. Our bread for this day; this one day,

How do we begin to get our lives back into the rhythm of God? One day at a time.

What if each of us began our day with one simple question- God, how can I keep in step with you today?

What if you gave God free reign to set the rhythm of your day, to establish the cadence for you?

Holloway Bridge…