It's just dirt!

Recently while talking to a friend who has been thinking of writing devotionals, I remembered studying through a devotional “Inspired for Greater Things” by Linda Pulley Freeman. In it she talked about our need for a balance of work, exercise and rest.  Funny how our minds work – that prompted a memory of  conversation with a friend at church about when God created the Earth, on the seventh day, he rested.  God rested. Interesting point #1.  From there our conversation wandered into the verses where he made man from dust, but created woman by taking one of his ribs.  “So,” my friend said. “That has to mean we are special because we weren’t made totally out of dust like men were.” Interesting point #2.  We were joking, but in retrospect those two interesting points made me consider the effects of the Genesis revelation.
Interesting point #1 – God rested. Have you ever thought about that? It’s significant because the Bible doesn’t say after God toiled and labored and exhausted himself with all that creation stuff, he finally plopped down in the recliner, kicked the footrest, and leaned back to watch a little TV and rest.  No, that’s not it.  God finished creating, looked around, totally satisfied with masterpiece and then, without complaining about being wiped out – He rested! Genesis 2:1-4 “Heaven and Earth were finished, down to the last detail. By the seventh day God had finished his work. On the seventh day he rested from all his work. God blessed the seventh day. He made it a Holy Day because on that day he rested from his work, all the creating God had done. This is the story of how it all started, of Heaven and Earth when they were created. We get tired, we get weary, we need rest.  Rest is good – even if we aren’t drop-down-limp tired.
Interesting point #2 – God made everything out of dust.  Genesis 2 and 3 recounts the story of how God spoke and the Earth was separated from the heavens. God spoke and separated the daytime from the nighttime.  God spoke and things happened. But God used dirt to create the animals and the birds. He formed man and woman also out of dirt.  I know. That was a very long time ago. But here’s the point. God did all that with dirt and his omnipotent commanding voice. God spoke and the world became. God took his own hands and made living things that have continued to reproduce and populate the Earth.
Here’s something more significant about Genesis 1-3 – If God could do all that, think of what he can do in the lives of the people he started working with way back thousands of years ago.  When we’re faced with overwhelming circumstances and gripped by fear of the unknown, how often do we turn to Matthew 6:26 “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”  We are told not to worry because God will provide what we need. There are so many verses I could share with you on worry and fear and God’s provision. 2Timothy 1:7 “The Spirit God gave us does not give us fear, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”
Here’s my thought though.  It’s been almost 3 years since I’ve been able to work outside my home. I could worry.  Since 1985 I have never been without work. I could worry. Our bills are not going to evaporate because I’m not working.  I could worry.  I prayed for my business to launch and bring an income stream, but God says, no. He has another plan.  I could worry.  Here’s why I refuse to worry. Because I know that the same God who made my ancestors out of dirt found on the ground, and made the animals, and the birds, and the fish, and orchestrated the beauty of nature in oceans, streams, mountains, valleys, trees, flowers and the moon, starts and glorious sun – He can take care of my minuscule need of fulfilling, satisfying work. That’s God. Give him a little dust and he will create!
Romans 15:4 “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.”
My Life is not in my hands or in the hands of an employer. My life is the hands of God who is power and controls the universe.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlmYxZAgrGI