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. (Gen 1:1-4)
“It was good” becomes a theme throughout Genesis 1. God causes the dry land to appear, “and God saw that it was good” (1:9-10). He makes the earth to bring forth vegetation, seed-yielding plants and fruit-bearing trees. “And God saw that it was good” (1:12). From the Sun, Moon, and stars (1:16-18), to the swarming sea creatures (1:21), to the beasts of the earth (1:24-25), God spoke, it was so, “and God saw that it was good.” After making man “in our image, after our likeness,” God “saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (1:31).
Alright, but what does that have to do with me on a Monday in 2022? Quite a few things, actually, but here’s one practical connection for your day: the God of Genesis 1 is the God of Psalm 92. The same Creator who brought the beginning into being and called his work “very good” has preserved for the ever-present tense what is good for all of us.
It is good to give thanks to the LORD,
to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
to declare your steadfast love in the morning,
and your faithfulness by night. (Psa 92:1-2)
I can’t speak light into existence, but I can give thanks to the Giver of light. The winds and the seas don’t obey my voice, but I can use the voice I’ve been given to sing praises to the name of the Most High who rules over all. I can’t make his Sun stand still or keep the shadows from deepening, but I can declare my Maker’s steadfast love in the morning and his faithfulness by night.
In the beginning, God spoke, and it was good.
We don’t know what this week will hold. There’s a host of things we can’t control. But if we will give thanks to the Author of life, singing praises to his name and declaring his steadfast love day after day, we can be confident in at least one thing. He will hear, he will know, and he will say, “It is good.”