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.