There are moments in my home that can only be tidily described as chaos.
Last night, as my two youngest were building a fort in the bedroom, I heard some concerning-sounding thuds: “That was the bathroom mirror, Mom! ” (Oh. I think that’s supposed to make me feel better?) There was also the repetitive, distinctive bleat of a kazoo, which I could have sworn I’d already thrown away. At least there was a lot of giggling, wrestling, and role-playing complete with foreign accents. (This time, at least, it was a good chaos.)
I thought of this today as I was thinking of the first time we actually hear of the Holy Spirit in Scripture: 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.
I learned this morning that the Hebrew for “without form and void” is tohu wa-bohu–literally waste and emptiness; a wildness. It was a watery desert, lacking purpose and beauty or life.
And this is what I love about the Holy Spirit showing up here in the second sentence of the Bible. He’s calling forth beauty and purpose and usefulness. He’s creating life out of disorder and confusion. He’s making something good out of chaos.
On many of the Wednesdays of 2017, I’ll be helping my friend Barbara Rainey, on everthinehome.com, explore what she calls “prayer lessons”: ideas to pray for ourselves, our most critical relationships, our communities. Today’s post considers this idea of inviting the Holy Spirit into our homes–right here, in the midst of our very real chaos.
I hope it encourages you today, wherever this finds you.
2 Comments
Seth Kempf - 7 years ago
Hey Janel! Love the reference to that Hebrew phrase–it’s a good study! You may have heard this as well when you looked into it, but the same words are used in Jeremiah 4:23 to illustrate what is almost like an un-creating we can bring about through foolishness and sin. תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ (tohu va bohu) is what life looks when we push aside our God who brings good and beautiful order…when we say, “no” to the Creator who made all things “very good” in the beginning.
Janel - 7 years ago
Oh, I love this. Thanks so much for passing this on. Perfect illustration for what the Holy Spirit redeems in us!