God Does His Best Work with Empty
This longer-than-anticipated season of Covid-19 has left us all more drained than we ever imagined possible last January. I had just bought a brand new planner, and was so excited to start my business and make headway on my big dreams and goals. And then Covid hit our nation. Add on top of this, political division, masks and social distancing, and racial injustice.
If you’re feeling drained and worn out, you’re not alone. This year has brought me to the end of myself in more ways than one. It’s only the second time in my life I’ve battled with depression (it takes a lot to get this optimist down, y’all), and there were days when self-care had to be at the top of my list, because I felt like I was gonna lose my sanity.
But I feel that God is just beginning to pull back the curtain on something for me. I’m realizing that when I’m at the end of myself, that’s where His best work begins. It’s my very emptiness that shows off His grace. I see my emptiness as my biggest problem, and He sees it as His biggest opportunity.
I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, the Daily Grace podcast, and they had Nancy Guthrie on the show as a guest talking about her latest book, God Does His Best Work with Empty. She talked about how emptiness is a theme throughout Scripture that gives the opportunity for God to give Himself most richly to us.
“God does His best work with empty. He always has.” – Nancy Guthrie
When I see my emptiness, I scramble to fix it. I run to relationships, shopping, food, and other comforts to try to soothe the hurt or meaninglessness. And yet, our emptiness is where we can be most receptive to God filling us like we’ve never experienced before. He meets us in our lack. The problem is that I’m often just not patient enough to wait to see Him work. I’m not patient to bring my vulnerability to Him and wait to see how He might want to heal me. I want a quick fix.
Slowly, God is teaching me. He’s showing me what it looks like to look to Him in my need. It’s slow progress, but I’m excited for the amazing but challenging season of motherhood to press me deeper into Him.
You can listen to the Daily Grace podcast episode featuring Nancy Guthrie here.
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