A Moment of Nothing

Rocko leapt off my lap, then bounced a paw or two on the floor before he landed at his favorite spot on the couch. The window is wide yet smattered with puppy slobber. Not a view I treasure, but that doesn’t stop me from sitting with my Rocko in front of his window.

Today, I did not follow him. My backside hung un-beautifully off the loveseat as I watched our playful pup leave our tug session.

Please bear with me as I search for the words to describe how I experienced this watching. Not like a voyeur, rather a non-participant. My eyes could see, but in this micro-sliver of time I searched my mind for a thought … nothing, an absence of thought. I had zero reaction, nothing grand, nothing to pout over, nothing at all.

This moment slipped out of existence, as unassuming as it arrived.

When Miss Ponder came prancing back on scene, she thought she had it all figured out. The Lord emptied me of me, she said. Jezebel quickly shut her down with If the Lord done emptied you, then He would have overfilled you, you know, your cup runneth over?

Truly, these ladies could have continued for hours to forge weapons against each other, claiming they knew the Lord’s ways.

Me. Little ole Julie wonders in awe of her God.

What is He showing me?

Was my Abba Father giving my heart and mind a moment of complete freedom in Him? Not jumping and singing freedom, but a complete and utter lifting of the burden with which I have yoked myself.

Nothing.

All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing. What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again, there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:8-9).

Yes, nothing is new to God, for He is the Alpha and the Omega.

Nothing could dispute all things are wearisome here on earth. Our bodies are temporary, breaking down the minute our first breath is taken. Labor, the multitude of kinds, is hard. All of it a consequence of the Fall. Childbirth, physical labor, emotional labor, spiritual labor … taps our strength … ours not His.

Nothing will thwart His plan to gather the exiles and bring us to an eternal room He has prepared.

Nothing to worry about. Nothing to plan. No burdens to carry. Nothing of the past, only what is newly made by Christ Himself after the final victory.

There is hope in the times of nothing. A glimpse perhaps to the ultimate release when neither tears or pain have a space, when each vesseled saint will completely and utterly reflect the dumbfounding glory of the Lord.

Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us (Romans 5:5).

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Thank you for being with me as I pray about this moment of nothing. I welcome any leadings God gives you about this.

Join me in growing our hope in He who is good and faithful in the midst of this broken, run-down world. Need prayer? Allow me or someone else you trust to pray for you. God listens to all prayers.

In the love of Jesus,

Julie