Let there be sky

From one to two. Separation. Space created. A ceiling dividing the chaos.

“And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.” (Genesis 1 v 6-8)

The Hebrew word for vault literally is something beaten flat like a metal sheet and used here the ancient peoples must have seen the sky as a solid dome which held back the ocean above and the waters below.

The sky. The amazing sky. Seen by all. Every day a different scene. Yet the only day it is not called good.

Why?

1. It could be because day two was closely connected to day three in that God would then gather the ocean below into seas and then creates land resulting in God declaring it good. On day two the work was unfinished.
2. It could be because of the work of separation. Recently I was involved in helping yet another division. A ministry team was evolving into a new model of leadership. The pain was tangible. A bittersweet  moment because I could see the hand of God. It needed to be done but no one was celebrating at the moment of separating the roles of the team. It didn’t feel good. Good would come but not today.

There have been so many times in my life when having to wait or going through separation has not felt good. It seemed to take such a long time to process. A day can seem like a thousand years can’t it? We always want the pain to be over immediately. However, creation unveils in stages. On day two God is creating by separating. He makes space from the chaos. He places a sky (we know its not a vault but the ancients didn’t) that makes room for life can thrive. Life hasn’t arrived yet, it will come, but for now there is the pain of separation, it doesn’t feel good so let’s not call it that yet, but hold on, God hasn’t finished.

There will be further separations. It seems that this is God’s way. Beauty from a breaking, two boundaries creating the possibility of something new. It may not feel good. But there are separations that bring order from chaos which leads to goodness. If you are in this season hold on. Day two is speaking to you and it calls you to not give up. Hang in. It is not over for you. Space is being created for growth to come. Look up today and be thankful.