God Left Room for Us

Genesis 2:15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.

Summary God has given each of us a small part of this world to tend, shape, and love, and our everyday work can become part of God’s work in the world.

Dear Faithful Ones,

One of the things I love about the creation stories in Genesis is that God creates a world that has room for us.

God creates the earth, and then God invites humanity to participate in what happens next.

In Genesis 2, the garden needs someone to “till it and keep it.” Those two words are important. Humanity is given the responsibility to cultivate what God has made and to care for it. We are not simply consumers of creation. We are participants in its flourishing.

I think that changes the way we understand our everyday lives.

Sometimes we imagine that God’s work happens primarily at church. We worship, pray, serve at the altar, feed people, teach children, or participate in a ministry, and we call that God’s work.

But God’s work is much bigger than the church.

Every day, we are shaping the world God loves.

We do it when we teach a child, care for a parent, run a business, create something beautiful, solve a problem, tend a garden, build a home, practice medicine, make someone laugh, repair something broken, volunteer in our community, or simply notice someone who needs kindness.

God has entrusted part of this world to each of us.

That does not mean everything human beings create reflects God. We can use our creativity selfishly. We can exploit people and creation rather than care for them. Having power brings responsibility.

So I think there is a wonderfully simple question we can carry into our work: “What is the most loving choice I can make here?”

Maybe that is one way we live as people created in the image of God.

We take whatever little corner of creation has been entrusted to us, our work, relationships, abilities, resources, imagination, and influence, and ask how we can help it flourish.

God could accomplish God's purposes without us.

And yet, from the beginning, God has chosen to make room for us.

What an extraordinary invitation,

Pastor Anny+

Prayer Creating God, thank you for making room for me in your work. Show me what you have entrusted to my care, and help me use my work, relationships, creativity, and gifts to bring more love into your world. Amen.