One evening in a woman’s Bible study group we talked about the “nothing times.” It started when a young woman said something like this, “I moved here about five years ago. I had a baby who turned out to have serious life threatening health issues. My whole life has changed. My husband and I used to be respected leaders in my church. I was a professional in the field of law and had a respected job. But now I am nothing. No one knows who I am or what I was.” So we talked about those times in our life when we feel as if we are worth nothing, and we are doing nothing.
Perhaps such times come on us by life circumstances: we lose a job, a title, a position, something happens to change our role, or we move somewhere new and start all over building relationships and a place for ourselves. We can find ourselves in circumstances in which suddenly what defined us to ourselves and those around us is gone. Maybe we were “someone” or had a position of responsibility through which we received satisfaction and fulfillment, or through which we defined ourselves. So what happens then, do we look for a new position to define us, a new title, and a new role. Or, do we need something deeper, stronger, more true?
Foundations of Sand
Though we may be disciples, believers, or even leaders in God’s kingdom, perhaps we still have a worldly perspective on who we are and what is important in life. Maybe the foundation we are building on is not really God and his Word. We can be deceived and think we are building on God, but really we are building on the world’s foundation, just in a different place. We participate in church. We read the Bible. We have changed some things in our lives/character. Our main relationships are with God’s people rather than the world, but our foundation remains sand. So when the storms and gales of life come our spiritual house collapses much like that of the foolish builder that Jesus describes (Matt. 7:24-28). Perhaps we need to come to terms in our hearts with what God needs us to know and has wanted us to know all along.
Many of the men and women God used in great ways have experienced nothing times or desert times, those times when everything we associated with who we are and what we do that gives meaning to our lives is stripped away. We may feel like a no body, a nothing, a non contributor, etc.
Keys to Surviving the “Nothing Times”
Moses’ Nothing time
Moses spent 40 years in the wilderness. Truly this seemed like a “nothing time” to Moses. After all, Moses had been educated in the pharaoh’s courts, trained as a soldier in the Egyptian army, entrusted with leadership and responsibility, experienced wealth, luxury and privilege. What a come down it must have been for Moses when he found himself a fugitive running from Egyptian officials and then tending sheep in a desert. Yet, God, used this time when Moses could have felt like a nobody, who was doing nothing of importance, to teach Moses what he needed to learn in his faith and character in order to be used by God.
This “nothing time” is referred to as Moses’ desert experience. During this time, Moses learned to be humble before God. Moses fell in love with God during this time and became deeply connected/bonded to God. It was because of this humility and bond that God was able to use Moses in such a powerful way. Even though Moses was well educated and powerful within himself, God worked through Moses’ humility and Godly devotion more than any of Moses previous education and training. A key for Moses was that he did not hold unto his past position, or continue to define himself as a privileged son of Egypt, but rather he opened himself to learn of God and to do God’s will, God’s way.
Joseph’s Nothing Time
Joseph, the son of Jacob, may have felt like a nothing several times in his life. First when he was removed as the favored son of his father. He was betrayed and sold for slavery by his own brothers. Then after excelling of his job job, as a slave in Potiphar’s house, he was falsely accused of a crime and imprisoned in a dirty Egyptian dungeon. Not only that, but he was forgotten in prison by those he had helped. These are circumstances that would cause most of us not only to feel worthless and like a nobody but also forsaken, bitter and unworthy of love. A key for Joseph was that he continued to trust God and excel in whatever difficult circumstance he was in. He did not give into self pity or smolder with anger about his circumstances. He accepted them and continued to trust God.
David’s Nothing Time
King David is another great example of a person who seemingly had everything. He was a mighty warrior, a man of God, a king over Israel, wealthy, intelligent and gifted. Yet he had to leave his throne, wealth, connections, power, home, etc and flee for his life from his own son Absalom who threatened to take it all. There are many things David could have done in response, including fighting to maintain his status, but he choose to trust that God was in control. He did not define himself by his title, power, skill, wealth, but rather by his relationship with God. David had a life time of desert experiences and from them he learned much about God. David developed a deep, true adoration and bond with God. He trusted God as his shield and deliverer.
When Absalom pushed David into a “nothing time,” David’s key to surviving and growing was in his faith in the fact that God was in control and that God would do what was best for David and others. In 2 Samuel 15: 24-26, Zadok, the priest brought the ark of the covenant to reside wherever David would go. But David urged him to take the ark back to Jerusalem. David’s words show his faith in God: “ …if I find favor in the Lord’s eyes, he will bring me back and let me see it and his dwelling place again. But if he says, ‘I am not pleased with you;’ then I am ready; let him do to me whatever seems good to him.”
Later in 2 Sam.16:5-12, a base fellow named Shimei pelted David with stones, cursed him and mocked his plight. David’s men wanted to kill Shimei for insulting the king. David responded with words that show his humility and faith in God: “ …If he is cursing me because the Lord said to him, ‘Curse David,” who can ask, ‘Why do you do this?’” The again: “… Leave him alone; let him curse, for the Lord has told him to. It may be that God will see my distress and repay me with good for the cursing I am receiving today.” David humbled himself before God, and completely trusted God’s response to his distress, even if it was not what David may have preferred.
Times to Grow Deeper with God
As we read through the Bible, we can see many other people who had those “nothing times.” Some, such as King Saul, responded in pride and fear, and as a result were unable to be used by God. Others responded in faith. In conclusion, as we reflect on Moses, Joseph and David, we see some of the keys to surviving and growing in the “nothing” or desert times:
- relinquish your hold on your past title, position or importance
- define yourself by your relationship with God
- be humble and open yourself to God’s working
- continue to trust God and excel in within your present circumstances; do the work you have in that context no matter how menial it seems to you
- trust that God is in control, he sees your distress and is working in and for you behind the scenes.
These are some keys to help us grow during the “nothing” times (which by the way can be the every thing times). We can know these and understand them intellectually, but only we make them our own by applying them will we grow. Are you willing to go through the “nothing/nobody times” to learn of God?
