Transforming Nothing Into Everything

Asking God what we have when we have nothing—when it seems that way—requites a predictable response. We might quickly be reminded, knowledge of God is everything. It will be everything at the end of our lives as we traverse the narrow chasm into eternity and it is everything in the here and now; though it often might seem there is nothing.

Transforming nothing into everything occurs at the flick of a switch in our minds. We remind the evil one, by the Word of God, that we have everything in God and are everything to God.

Recognising The Pride Of Complaint

Whilst each one of us is prone to complaint, both justified and unjustified, each complaint is a tidy rebellion against the Lord. Sometimes we need to complain to understand, and in that to realise through repentance, just how needy of God we really are.

With the freedom to complain we are loved by God, for he allows us to find nothing in the presence of everything, and we are free to go on in our complaint however long we like. In freedom we roam far from the presence of the living Lord. But we entreat no blessing to ourselves in this frame of mind; a heart devoid of gratitude.

But the truth is we will still complain. We will still find space for our thoughts within such waste. It’s our humanity showing through. And especially pungent complaints have us despairing. It’s still pride. It’s still finding fault with the arrangements of the Giver and Taker (Job 1:21) of all things in life. And many manner and circumstances of pride are selectable.

Defeating The Pride Within Complaint With A Thought

Just as our pride came about through a meld of rebellious and needy feelings and thoughts—a state of being that redeems us nothing—we can defeat that pride that persists in the form of complaint with feelings of unity with God, and thoughts aligned to everything about us beyond the complaint. That everything remains to be chosen and redeemed by us is a miracle coaxing us away from the complaint.

In the form of vision we begin to see more broadly and tunnel vision disappears.

We may battle shame for falling into the devil’s trap once again. But it’s not God’s will that we suffer such indignity when all we need to do is repent. And we’ve done that by transforming the nothingness within pride into ‘the everything’ that’s eternally visible. We defeat pride swiftly in the formation of thoughts for gratitude.

© 2012 S. J. Wickham.