Genesis

This has been a difficult week for me with the unexpected loss of my favorite four-footed, furry friend, Fiver, on Tuesday.  I won’t go into detail as I wrote another post covering the details of the ordeal*… but to say the least… I feel like I’ve been in a fog for the last few days.  I guess that it is not too surprising, but I find myself constantly looking for him in all his favorite resting places around the house, or calling out to him before I realize… “Oh Yes!  He’s not here anymore!”

The blunt truth really hit home a couple of nights ago when I was sitting in the living room and suddenly thought that… “I’m the only one in the apartment now!”  Ever since my sweet wife went to heaven several years ago, I have regularly awoken in the morning, thinking in my slumber-soaked mind, that Piper is laying next to me with the dog curled up at her feet… only to fully awaken with the disappointing reality that “Nope… it’s just me and Fiver!”

This week I have found myself waking up and swinging my feet out and over the side of the bed, but pausing with the well-rehearsed reaction to make sure that I wouldn’t step on the dog… as he occasionally liked to lay on the floor next to the bed… only to have it dawn on me that he won’t be there anymore.  So… that’s another change that I’ll need to get used to!

I rehearsed all of these “realities” over and over again, in my mind’s eye this morning, when I automatically woke up around five when I would have normally taken Fiver down stairs for a quick, “wet stop” before hopping back in bed for another hour and a half before rising for the day.  As I stared at the ceiling through the dim of the nightlights in the room, I suddenly had the personal revelation that “This is where I am at… so, what am I gonna do about it!”

And without much contemplation… even surprising myself… I immediately spoke out… “Well, I am not a quitter and I going to continue moving forward to fulfill God’s plans for me here in Tennessee!”

My theme scripture for 2026, that I have personalized and have been writing down at the top of my Bible Study note page each and every morning since January first, is from Philippians 3:13-14, where I declare,

“Brothers and sisters… This is what I am doing TODAY:  I am not looking back as much as I was before, but instead – I am lengthening my stride and running FORWARD… STRAIGHT AHEAD… to fulfill the prize of my calling by God through Jesus Christ.” (combination of God’s Word © and The Heart of Paul, A Relational Paraphrase of the New Testament by Ben Campbell Johnson © 1976)

So… you can see that my early morning statement really shouldn’t have surprised me after all… since I’ve been confessing that fact for about a month and a half already!  Another similarly themed verse that the Lord just drew me to on Thursday, is found in Psalm 51:10 and is translated in The Message Bible as,

“God, make a fresh start in me, shape a GENESIS week from the chaos of my life.” 

It is interesting to note that the word “Genesis” in the Hebrew means “origins” which as defined in our modern dictionaries relates to “The point or place where something begins, arises or is derived.”  Dake’s Study Notes calls the book of Genesis “The Creative Ages” which speaks to my heart, telling me that “God’s wants to create something specifically for me, in this new season of my life!”

And so yes… I’ve had some traumatic events thrown at me over the past few years, but through it all… my heavenly Father keeps reminding me of His loving faithfulness to me and mine… and with that experiential TRUTH in my daily life… I can’t help but to see joy over and beyond the tragedies that I may face.  Hebrews 12:2 reminds us that,

“We must focus on Jesus, the source and goal of our faith. (for) He saw the joy ahead of Him, so He endured death on the cross…” (God’s Word ©)

And don’t forget Ephesians 5:1 where the Apostle Paul encourages us to,

“Be imitators of God in everything you do, for then you will represent your Father as His beloved sons and daughters.” (TPT) 

Are there places or opportunities in your personal lives where you could use a fresh start?  Places where God would love to shape a Genesis, new beginning in the midst of the chaos, or confusion or changes in your life?

Well… He’s ready to make changes if you and I are willing to allow Him the freedom to move in us, with us and for us.  And how do we accomplish this?  By being an imitator of God in everything we do… By spending time with Him in His Word on a regular basis, in order to see how He does things… and then begin to slowly… but surely… imitate Him in how you handle the daily affairs of your life!

I’m excited about the Genesis that God is shaping in my life… and as I am not a quitter… I’m in it for the long haul… and will do whatever it takes to receive and then BE all that He has for me!

How about you?

 

*You can read Fiver’s blog post here:  https://pjberruto.blogspot.com/2026/02/fiver.html