Nothing and Everything

A wonderful woman I know suggested I read Jesus + Nothing = Everything by Tullian Tchividjian. Since she's so wonderful, I decided I should read it. I finally finished it yesterday. God has great timing; the truths I read yesterday were truths I needed to hear YESTERDAY. I need to hear them TODAY too. And most likely TOMORROW as well. Thankfully, the formula Jesus + Nothing = Everything is constant.

I like the Everything that I have had this past year. I love Sioux Falls, Young Life, my friends. I had a lot of Everything. I am such a blessed young lady. All that Everything was really tough to let go of for this year in Ghana (correction... 10.5 months in Ghana). Our God is so good that He was faithful enough to continue to remind me that His plans are greater than my Everything. And yesterday, I came to a greater understanding of how my Everything is really Nothing when we consider God's EVERYTHING.

Let me explain using more words than Nothing and Everything. Doesn't that sound helpful?

I spent the spring and summer feeling like I was sacrificing SO much for the Lord. I'm letting go of quite a few hopes, dreams, and plans because He made it clear that He wants me in Kumasi, Ghana. It's been really difficult. I have honestly spent more time being frustrated, bitter, and hurt by it than by being joyful in God's will. But because God is so good, I'm in Ghana anyway, and I'm decently joyful. He and I are making progress in that area.

Yesterday, as I was reading Tchividjian's book, I realized what my sacrifice and what my Everything really were. They're Nothing. Absolutely Nothing. God's Everything is way better than my Everything. Everything I'm sacrificing for Him is really Nothing compared to His Everything. I'm so blessed and definitely coming out ahead through this exchange. I get HIS EVERYTHING. And what is that you may ask? Great question!

HIS EVERYTHING includes the opportunity to call him Dad, not just Father, but Abba Father, Daddy. HIS EVERYTHING includes a new life in Christ where my sin is removed and I'm whiter than snow, completely renewed. HIS EVERYTHING includes the Holy Spirit at work inside of me. HIS EVERYTHING includes eternity with Him! Oh, what joy! And this eternity concept gets better when we take a look at what John says eternity will be like for the believers within the seven churches in the book of Revelation. (All of the emphasis below is added.)

• "Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death. " - Rev. 2:10b-11
• "To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it." - 2:17b
• "To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations — that one ‘will rule them with an iron scepter and will dash them to pieces like pottery’ — just as I have received authority from my Father. I will also give that one the morning star." - 2:26-28
• "The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels." - 3:5
• "The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it. I will write on them the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on them my new name." - 3:12
• "To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne." - 3:21

Whoa! Let's say it again: Whoa! Jesus says these things to the faithful. This is the EVERYTHING He's offering us. See how my Everything is Nothing when we look at what EVERYTHING is?

I'm not saying this makes all of the change painless. I still miss the Everything. But now, I will freely give up my small Everything for that, for Him. Because He is EVERYTHING. He's not just coming down to earth to be with us. He's taking us to be with Him where He belongs, where I belong. I want His EVERYTHING because it's Him, and if I'm honest, He's always been all that I've ever wanted, even when I haven't acknowledged it. Knowing who He is, I want Nothing other than Him. I crave Nothing other than Him. Without Him, I have Nothing. Without Him, I am Nothing. He is EVERYTHING. And that is way more than enough for me.

My prayer is that it's way more than enough for all of us. What's your Everything you need to turn into Nothing?