In Genesis 1:1-2 we read about God’s formless, empty, lifeless, black, and watery creation and how the Spirit of God loved, sustained, and upheld it. Right now you may feel confused. Empty. Lifeless. Dark. Chaotic. Whoever you are, and whatever the depths and agony of your trials, God is hovering over you: he loves you, he is near to you, and he can rescue you.

On the one hand, we sense that we are important and significant. Life means something. We have purpose—a high purpose. We were destined for great things. On the other hand, we tell ourselves, incessantly, that we are meaningless and insignificant. Here are 3 reasons from Genesis 1:24-26 why you are very important.

So many of us are unhappy because we don’t know why we exist. God pours out love-gifts of sun and breath, food and family, and we don’t see him. We are dying, and we don’t want our lives to end. We don’t know where we are going, nor how to get there. Yet, even in the most vicious trials of this life, we can find joy.

God’s church is always in danger of drowning—suffocating in the waters of outward persecution and inward materialism and temptation. We need not fear, though, because our Lord will rescue us and bring us through.