"Nothings"

"And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thine hand? And he said, A rod." Exodus 4:2

 How many times have we heard it preached that God will take whatever you have "in your hand" and use it? Have you ever felt, though, that you have "nothing" in your hand? You don't have a rod like Moses. You don't have a sling like David. You don't have a lunch of bread and fish. What do you have? You have nothing. Well, neither did they to begin with. Moses didn't always have the rod. David didn't always have the sling. The little boy didn't always have the lunch. It was given to them or they obtained it at some point. 

 

"For the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey." (Matthew 25:14,15) The truth is, we all start out with nothing. You may not feel as though you have anything to give Him- no talent, no ability, no rod, nothing- and that is correct, you have nothing. But He wants our "nothingness". He wants us just as we are. He wants to take what is nothing and make us into something. Without Him we are nothing. Without Him we have nothing to give Him. All we have is ourselves- such as I am. But when we surrender our nothing and give ourselves to Him, He will give us- and make us- something. 

 

He will make us someone who is an heir and joint-heir to Christ Jesus; who is a co-laborer with Him; accepted in the beloved; the righteousness of Christ; bestowed with gifts; blessed of the Lord; etc. Just ask Gideon. He was a nothing with nothing to give the Lord. He was a coward, from a poor family and the least in the family. When God came to Gideon, he had nothing. God wasn't after what Gideon had, He was after Gideon. He took Gideon, who was nothing, and gave him something and made him into something-- a mighty man of valor, a judge in Israel. 

 

Stop bemoaning, or using as an excuse, that you have nothing to give the Lord and you have nothing in your hand. None of us have anything. That is why we need Him! We start with nothing and we give that nothing to the Lord-- that is all He is after. And He will take the nothing and replace it with something-- something (someone) that He can use for His glory.

 

Have a great day. You may think that you have nothing to give to the Lord-- you are right. But that nothing is what He wants. 

 

For further reading:

Judges 6:11-15

John 15:5

Romans 8:17

2 Corinthians 5:21