“And It Was So”
Here’s a phrase that jumped out at me as I read Genesis 1 last week – it’s the phrase “and it was so.” Here are a few examples of these words in this chapter:
- Verse 7: “God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so.”
- Verse 9: “God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so.”
- Verse 11: “God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so.”
- Verses 14-15: “God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so.”
Trust God's Timing
I like how some of the other translations put it: NLT says “and that is what happened”, and Eugene Peterson’s The Message says “and there it was”!
Charles Spurgeon the great preacher gave an entire sermon based on this phrase, and here’s what he says as the sermon opens: “Whatever it was that he willed, he did but speak the Word, “and it was so.” In no single case was there a failure. There was not even a hesitation, a pause or a demand for a more powerful agency than the Divine Word. In each case, Jehovah spoke, “and it was so.”
Let’s be glad today that when God speaks, it is so. When God wants to do something, it happens. Of course, it happens in His time and not ours. We would love for all of His promises to be fulfilled instantaneously wouldn’t we? Instead sometimes we have to wait and wait and wait, but friends we can trust, we can trust that if God has said it, it will be so. It will happen.
Be Trustworthy Always
And here’s another thought. Is your word good? If you say something, will it be so? Or do you say things and you know it isn’t so. You just say it to please somebody in the moment with no real intention of doing it. Jesus spoke about not swearing oaths but just letting our ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ or our ‘no’ be ‘no’. He encouraged us to be people that speak, and it is so.
Today, trust God’s promises. If He has said it, it will be so.
And with His Spirit in you, be faithful and trustworthy yourself, so that people know you to be a person who, when you say something, you do it.
