I am often left speechless by nature! Whether it is the breath-taking beauty of the Northern Nights on a clear Fall evening, the stunning constellations of stars in our immense universe, or the cascade of colors that fill our Summer gardens, our God is an amazing God and His diverse and immense creation speaks to His creativity and power. There is no question of God’s creative genius. All the evidence displayed freely in nature perpetually affirms this reality.
This diversity and beauty also speaks of God’s greatness and ability to create everything we know out of nothing. Scripture teaches this in the first words of scripture (the Bible): “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis1:1). There are diverse theories of how God created but scripture is definitively clear that God created and His creation was created out of nothing. The academic word for this phenomenon is “exnihilo” (Latin for: “out of nothing”).
“Ex nihilo” is not just a theological or academic phrase about creation that has academic implications; it also has radical and profound implications for our day-to-day lives in our complicated world. Let me explain…
Have you every felt like you have nothing to offer? Have you ever wondered how God could use you with all your weaknesses? You are not alone. These are common experiences. Think of the many metaphors we have in the English language that speak about this: Our tanks are empty, our wells are dry, we are tapped out, we are completely spent, etc. Sometimes, as these phrases indicate, we can feel like we have no energy, no ability to forgive, no ability to love, and no energy to serve. It is, paradoxically, in these times that we are the most fertile soil. Fertile soil where God can produce fruit that only He can take credit for.
Whatever you are going through and whatever you may be feeling, I want to remind you of God’s ability to create out of nothing. You may feel like you have no capacity to forgive those who have hurt you. You may feel like you can’t love your enemy. You may feel like you can’t love your spouse any more. Again, I want to remind you of God’s ability to create out of nothing.
If God could create everything we know and experience, in all its diversity and beauty, out of nothing (ex nihilo), perhaps your nothing is the everything He desires.
When we trust in God, we can love when we feel we have no capacity to love, we can forgive when it seems that forgiveness is impossible, we can serve others when we are hurting, and we can give when we feel like we have nothing to offer. The Bible affirms, in fact all nature affirms, that God can do a lot with nothing!
If God created the world out of nothing, perhaps your nothing is the everything He desires.
***This article was recently published in the Vermilion Standard.
