Something Was Missing

“The world was my oyster, but where was the pearl?

Who’d dream I would find it in one little girl?”

These lyrics come from the song, “Something Was Missing,” in the Broadway musical, Annie, with lyrics by Martin Charnin.

The same words could effectively sum up the main point in Genesis 1:

God created the heavens—an endless expanse of color and light and glory…

Then, He made the earth—land and sky and water…

And it teemed with life as plant and animal kingdoms multiplied in unimaginable splendor and detail…

BUT SOMETHING WAS MISSING:

The sound of laughter and running feet.

The wonder of a smile returned.

The beauty of a hot tear rolling down a flushed cheek.

Words spoken.

Shared meanings.

The heart beating for reasons other than circulation.

The soaring of spirit that comes with worship.

The joining of mind, spirit, body and soul.

Yes, something was missing in creation–mainly us. In a way, we are the pearl of great price to the Lord. I mean no disrespect in writing that. We are both valued as a treasure and costly beyond belief. But He wanted us anyway.

 

“God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…and God created man in His own image.” (Genesis 1:26,27)

 

 

 

In some small way, I understand God’s desire to create a living being in His own image.

I get it because when my offspring fill my house with sounds and motion and presence, I feel very rich suddenly. My daughter slices up vegetables while sautéing garlic. She’s inventing a new recipe. My other daughter cuts out words from magazines to make a collage kind of poem. She calls them “Soul Slices.” My six-foot-two son throws me over his shoulder to whomp me down on the couch, just because he can. We smile and grow weak with laughter. My granddaughter wants to play with flashlights in the dark pantry. We are “making moons” on the walls with our beams of light. Would I miss any of this?

Yet God knew, as I do, that in creating a new being–we put our hearts on the line.

We open ourselves up to all the possibilities, which include the joyful scene mentioned above, but also the devastating sorrow that comes with the reality of freewill. Still, without us, something was missing for God. So He took a chance fraught with peril, in hopes that we’d choose relationship with Him.

And like a mirror reflecting back—something is also missing for us if we don’t choose God. We came hardwired for this connection, though we brush it off or shoo it away. Designed for a simple love story, we are the “little girl” who becomes the bride—waiting, watching, and longing for her bridegroom. We, also, must sell out and give ourselves completely. We must be all in.

And when that happens, it completes a mysterious circle.

God, who risked everything, in turn receives our love and adoration. He delights in watching us invent recipes, write poetry, and “make moons” in dark places. Truly, there’s a love story at the heart of it all.

 

“My tenderness for you, you cannot understand. When I see you face to face I will take your face in My Hands, and you will look into My Eyes, and you will know what love is in its fullness and completeness.”

—A prophetic word from God, spoken by my friend Jenny Thornburg