Nothing to Lose

Nothing is going right, but on the other hand, maybe I have nothing to lose! Who would ever try to write a devotion about “not anything”? Some advice I once heard is, “When you have zilch to write about, write about nothin.” So why not give it a try? Now some of you friendly hecklers might say, “well you have been writing about nuttin for months!” Maybe true, but not about “nothing” in every sense of the word, so I just as well start at the beginning.

In The Beginning

If you think about it, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Out of what? Not a thing. Nothin is all there was before the world began (Genesis 1:2). In fact, Martin Luther is quoted as saying, “God created the world out of nothing and as long as we are nothing, He can make something out of us.” “Nothing,” is made reference to or mentioned quite often in the Bible. Not a thing discouraged Noah from building the arc. Nuttin could get in the way of Moses. Joshua made walls crumble into nothin. Not anything was too big for David. Satan said, “does Job fear God for nothing?” (Job 1:9). We continue with the great wisdom of the Apostle Paul when he told the Philippians to “do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit,” and “be anxious for nothing,” (Philippians 2:3, 4:6). The prophet Jeremiah repents to the Lord on behalf of the Jewish nation “Correct me, O Lord, but with justice; Not with Your anger, or You will bring me to nothing.” (Jeremiah 10:24). We are reminded of our own sins from this next verse, as Solomon adds in Ecclesiastes that we must not walk in darkness, but follow God’s light, our sins are the same now as they have been throughout time “So there is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 1:9). These burdens can include the desire to gather earthly possessions and the warning in 1 Timothy 6:7 “for we have brought not a thing into the world, and it is certain we cannot carry not one thing out.”

With God We Have “Everything”

There are times when we doubt as Simon answered and said, “Master, we worked hard all night and caught nothing,” (Luke 5:5).  We must ask for forgiveness and repent, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me” (Romans 7:18). And ultimately, we know we can ask God for help, “For nothing will be impossible with God,” (Luke 1:37). We need to fear nothin but sin, and desire nothing but God. We must fully depend on Jesus, without Him we have not anything, but with Him we have everything. Our promise of salvation is given to us and “neither height nor depth, or nothing else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord,” (Romans 8:39). Dear Lord, help me when I feel like nothing is going my way. With your continuous presence, there will be not one thing that I cannot overcome. Amen.