Monday Morning Devotion-July 4, 2022
Making Something out of Nothing
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. Genesis 1:1-2
*reprised from July 2, 2018
In the beginning there was nothing! Then God said: "Let there be light and there was. still nothing. But you could see it better. :)
OK so that's a lame joke. I first heard it from comedian Ellen DeGeneres. I thought about it while I was sitting around thinking about…uh, nothing.
I shouldn't have been thinking about nothing because it was getting late in the week and I didn't have a single idea of what to write a devotion about and besides that I also had a magazine article that was past due.
So, while I was thinking about nothing it occurred to me the best way to get past nothing was to "do something."
Now that I had made up my mind to write about making something out of nothing it occurred to me what a hard job God had on his hands. How do you make something out of nothing? Well, He could because He is God. But how do I make something out of nothing in the form of a devotion?
Bingo! I found a fully formed idea. It was in my first book of all places…You know that one I wrote 20 years ago. My goodness has it been that long since I wrote "Monday Morning Devotions?" Yep. 2002. Devotion #46. Page 199. "Making Something Out of Nothing." So, I am sure the author won't mind if I borrow the title and some of the info, so we can investigate this idea further.
Let's think about this concept…nothing. That's what the deal was in the beginning according to Genesis. Now think about that. It's hard to picture nothing in your mind, much less make something out of it…. but God did! He made everything from nothing.
I really can't even fully think about nothing in my mind, can you? When I try to do that, something pops into my mind. Then is when it does then I need to "do something."
As the writer says in MMD, "Close your eyes and try to make your mind a blank. Blot out everything to the point where there is nothing but darkness. You'll find it is hard to stay focused on nothing. Sooner or later, even in a darkened, soundproof room, the world is going to creep back into your mind erasing the nothingness."
All right, I decide that I am going to stop trying to think about nothing and think about something. I'm going to create something out of nothing. I'm going to write a book. I'm going to write a novel. I've written five non-fiction books already I'll just write a novel now.
When I try to write a novel, I can certainly appreciate more fully what God did when he created heaven and earth and everything else out of nothing. You see when you try to write a novel you have to do the same thing. Well, not exactly the same thing. I'm certainly not trying to minimize God's creation story. In copying what He had to do in our own simple human way we have to create all the characters, places, time frame and even trickier is the part where you have to create the plot. In other words, you are the creator. You are creating your own story. Your own world so to speak. Trust me, to do that I have to rely on my Creator for help.
So here is our Creator creating our world out of absolutely nothing. Referring to my book again: "That's how it is with God's creation process. He made something out of nothing and He is still in control. He created the sun and the moon and makes sure they come up every day. He hung the stars, created the wind, the oceans and the mountains. Yes, He is in control of all of it.
The late Jerry Bridges, in his landmark book, "Trusting God" wrote that all of our lives are affected by the weather. No matter if it is good or bad weather, storm or natural disaster, it is all under God's control. He has not walked away from the day-to-day control. He governs the forces of nature. He established physical laws by which governs these forces of nature. There are over 1,400 references to weather terminology in the Bible. So, when God created the universe from nothing, he did a bang-up job."
Now here's the thing. God did create something out of nothing, but he also created us to help Him run this operation. "God created everything, but He uses us to do His work on earth, if we allow Him to. Often we go along in the same old rut before we allow God to use us." That is our bad. I think it often saddens Him when we don't do our part. That's why we need to keep this thought in mind that I read on a bumper sticker years ago: "Be patient God isn't through with me yet."
Continuing with that train of thought: "When we are open and alert to what God is saying, He creates something out of nothing in our lives. We may be led in a direction we had not even considered. When that happens, it will be better than we anticipated."
In the popular book "Experiencing God" authors Blackaby and King say: "You can't even think a prayer that comes close to what God wants to give you. If God wants to give you more than you are asking, would you rather have what you are asking or what God wants to give?"
Blackaby says there are areas of our lives that we view as "nothing. There is either nothing going on or it is something we have never even considered. Part of the problem is that we pray and then we don't relate things that happen in our lives to that prayer. They may be different from what we prayed for and we just think they are distractions and try to get rid of them."
That's why when we pray we should immediately begin to watch for what happens next.
After all, you never can tell when God is ready to "make something out of nothing" in your life.
Prayer: Lord it is hard for us to grasp the concept of nothing. But, it is not hard to thinkabout your love. We just look around and see your love everywhere. Even in places where there was nothing you have made a place for something---your love. Amen!