thinking bible.

You asked

what 'formless and void' aspects of our world today do we struggle to imagine God's spirit hovering over?

The passage, plainly, with room to sit with it.

Genesis 1:2

The earth was waste and void; and darkness was on the surface of the deep. God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.

This verse opens the biblical account of creation, describing the initial state of the world before God begins to shape it. It sets the scene for God's creative work, highlighting both the unformed nature of reality and the active presence of God's Spirit.

What unformed or chaotic situations in your own life or the wider world feel most resistant to the idea of a divine presence?

Keep thinking

Read alongside it

  • Psalm 104:30

    Describes God sending out His Spirit to renew the face of the earth.

  • Job 26:7-14

    A poetic description of God's immense power and creative control over the cosmos.

  • Isaiah 45:18

    States God did not create the earth to be waste, but to be inhabited.

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