What do you do when it’s your turn to share, your time to minister, and you’ve got nothing?
What would you hear of? That during a power outage, I got the rest of the Christmas decorations up? That I’ve been struggling with nightmares and migraine symptoms lately but the dreams weren’t so bad light night and my head doesn’t hurt so much today? Should I complain for you, let you know how hard it has been to restrain the crankiness that sometimes accompanies this? Should I pour myself out when my strength is gone?
Perhaps I could swing controversial, hide my state of “nada” by going to old standbys; I could do a standard pro-life screed or dig out my anti-prejudice poem and talk about how we all tend to be prejudiced against people who look like people who victimized us or even our ancestors. Perhaps if I had an ounce of energy for rowdy debates and found the idea of a flame war godly fun.
Or I could go totally off-topic, go through drawers, and share my favorite recipes. Sure, if I wouldn’t mind their copyright owners finding out and complaining that I’ve committed plagiarism.
It is hard to glorify God in our weakness and pain when we are having trouble reaching the turn around and seeing the glory of the Lord. The day are short, so much darkness in the world, yet I know God is good. He does redeem. I have nothing, nothing but Christ, born of a virgin, Christ, crucified.
They say “if all you have is Christ, that’s all you need.” I’ve often thought the folks who say that must not really have been lacking something besides Christ. You can indeed have him and still feel a burning, legit need that God for some reason hasn’t met yet. Sometimes maybe we aren’t as open as we think to receiving; we want our pain ended a particular way and God has something else in mind.
And sometimes, regardless of what we feel, we have Christ, and that has to be enough. Even when it feels like all I’ve got is nada, maybe somewhere in my stumbling to hold on, to be faithful, to do what I’ve committed to do, you’ll get something from God.