The Waters

“And the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” Genesis 1:2b

Water, water everywhere. This past summer, I traveled upon the same created waters that God Almighty determined beforehand, in His infinite wisdom, would be divided from the heavenly waters by the firmament (properly defined as an expanse, in other words, the visible arch of the sky.) “God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so” (Genesis 1:7). Waters above; waters below.

I was on the waters below. And what a lot of water it was! Oh, I have stood on the shoreline countless time, watching waves, looking for spouts of water offshore, listening to seabirds calling out. But being out “in the middle” where nothing else can be seen except water is another thing altogether.

It helps me see God’s infinity. The great oceans do, in fact, have a limited amount of water in them—though surely no one knows how much that is, exactly. I know that if I were able to take the water out of the ocean a gallon at a time, and if there were some place to put it so that it wouldn’t go back into the ocean, I would perhaps, in an unbelievably long time, empty it completely (if it never rained or snowed anywhere in the whole world for all that time.)

And yet, God is “more” than that. He created all that vast expanse, and since water is created, then its Creator is more. Bigger, better, deeper, more powerful. The “endless” ocean tells me about God.

“He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deep in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast” (Psalm 33:7-9).

God has always commanded His waters. He caused them to stand in a heap at the Red Sea. He cut off the waters of the Jordan. He stores them up in clouds until He sends it forth as rain. He flooded the earth to destroy wickedness. He turned water to wine. He turned waters to blood. He carries great ships on the waters. He stills the waters to restore our souls and to satiate His gentle beasts.

The waters obey Him, too. “…When He strengthened the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters would not transgress His command…” (Proverbs 8:28-29). Waters would not dare to disobey their Creator—unlike man who, made in His image, has a mind of his own and fancies himself the master of all he sees.

Those great seas are meant to speak to us. How great God is, to give us a glimpse of the edges of His ways!

Father, when we admire all that is beyond us that You have created, may we have a proper response deep in our being. You are mighty, and there is none like You.