|
Bringing
God Our Emptiness
.
by Sam Williamson
My leadership at my church feels fruitless and
my last few sermons stank. In the first 34 weeks
of this year, I published only 25 “weekly”
articles. And all my service to a partner
charity feels last minute, like I’m doing
everything in the nick of time.
Recently, I spend less time with my wife than I
want; my brother (who lives in Australia) is
visiting for two months and I’ve only met with
him once; I’m having far fewer one-on-one
meetings to care for acquaintances; and I’m
falling behind in paperwork, housework, and
email.
Bilbo Baggins once reflected, “I feel like
butter scraped over too much bread.”
My heart says, “Me too.” I have too much to do
and too little time to do it. My activities
suffer from inadequate attention because I’m off
to the next thing, which I’ll also do badly
because something else (or someone else) cries
out for attention. This morning I read this old
quote:
God created the world out of
emptiness, and as long as we are empty, he can
make something out of us.
God is calling me to embrace my emptiness.
He Guides Us All There
Time management wisdom tells us to focus on the
important and shed the unimportant. That’s easy
when you have one “kid” but what about when you
have nine? I don’t sense God releasing me from any
of my “dependents” (though I keep asking!).
God stretches us, leading us to a life beyond
natural resources. There is something he likes
about the poor and he seems attracted to the
needy. Because we cry out to him. He not only calls
us to being poor in spirit, he guides us
to that very place:
- He leads Moses and Israelites into the Red
Sea” trap”, where only God can save.
- He calls Gideon to reduce his army from tens
of thousands to three hundred.
- He sends schoolboy David—not strapping
Saul—to fight hulking Goliath.
Why does God continually maneuver us into places
of weakness? Because he needs our poverty more
than our riches; he wants our neediness more than
our usefulness.
Which is exactly where God is bringing me. It’s
the total opposite of self-esteem and natural
giftedness; he is transforming my spirit of pride
(I can do it!) into a spirit of emptiness (HELP!)
God’s friendship is with those who know their
poverty.
We Need That Friendship
Too many books on spiritual wisdom teach us
exactly how to prosper: The Seven Essential
Steps to Raising Godly Children, or The
Manual for Successful Preaching. But
Christianity teaches us that our greatest
need is friendship with God. Oswald Chambers said
it this way,
He can accomplish nothing with the
person who thinks that he is of use to God. The
most important aspect of Christianity is not the
work we do, but the relationship [with Him] that
we maintain and the surrounding … qualities
produced by that relationship.
That is all God asks, and it is the one thing
that is continually under attack.
Amid my “too much to do and too little time to do
it,” God is calling me back to friendship with
him. It’s not the giftedness I offer, but the
poverty I bring.
All we really need is need.
Sam
Sam
Williamson has published numerous articles
and has written two books.
He has a blog site, www.beliefsoftheheart.com,
and can be reached at
Sam@BeliefsoftheHeart.com.
Hearing
God in Conversation: How to Recognize
His Voice Everywhere, by Samuel C.
Williamson, published by Kregel
Publications, 2016, available from Amazon
Top
photo by Jeremy Yap on Unsplash.com |
