Genesis 1:25
Stop.
Take a deep breath. Consider the air in your lungs, something we so rarely even think about. Remember that even the air is a gift from God. Spend a moment in gratitude for all God’s gifts.
Listen.
God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good. – Genesis 1:25
Reflect.
In worship on Sunday, we heard from the creation story in Genesis. In that story of beginnings, we remembered that there were three promises that we could always trust, especially in times of new and uncertain things. We’ll talk about those promises all week.
The first promise is that God has given us everything that we need. In the creation story, the gift of what God has given us stays with things we can typically see and touch: land, water, plants, animals, each other. Any time we interact with these things, we remember how God has created them, God entrusts them to us, and God will continue to do this over and over, not only at the beginning.
But we also pray things like “give us this day our daily bread” in the Lord’s Prayer, remembering that God provides for us daily in ways that we sometimes distance from God. Food, work, relationships, money – all these things are gifts from God too, even if we often think of them as things we created all on our own. If we’re going to claim that God gives us everything we need – and we do – then we will remember that it includes not only what we might think of as “creation” but anything that exists in this good world God has given us.
May this realization give you comfort today, trusting that God will always provide for you, for others, and for the whole world God so loves.
Pray.
God, you have promised to always give me what I need. Calm my heart when I get anxious about what I don’t have or might need. Through the beauty of creation, remind me of all your good gifts. Amen.
Carry On.
What’s one way that you can fulfill God’s promise to provide by helping care for others today? Is there a friend who could use a meal dropped off? A charity that could use your financial gift? A nearby park that could use some trash clean-up?