Something from Nothing

May 18, 2012


“What
does this bunch of
poor, feeble Jews think they’re doing? Do they think they can build the
wall in a single day by just offering a few sacrifices? Do they actually
think they can make something of stones from a rubbish heap—and charred
ones at that?” Nehemiah 4:2

Our
home has served as a nature observatory for the past several months. First we watched ants build a
tremendous network of tunnels inside an escape-proof shell. Then we
witnessed five squirmy caterpillars transform into beautiful
butterflies. Our latest specimen? Lima beans. We wrapped a few beans in a wet paper-towel and placed them in a plastic bag. Within a few days the beans began to sprout.

While
I enjoyed watching the butterflies and the ants (did I mention they were in an escape-proof
container?), the Lima beans seemed to outscore their competition. The ants and caterpillars began (and thankfully, continued on) as living
creatures. However, the Lima beans once seemed as good as dead to me. Yet out
of a pile of plain, crusty, dried beans grew a healthy creature teeming with life.

God specializes in making somethings from nothings.

Take Creation, for example. "By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command, that
what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen." Hebrews 11:3

Think about the Israelites rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem after they returned from captivity. What to the casual observer seemed like nothing more than stones from a heap
of rubbish God used to enable the Israelites to fortify the Holy City in just 52 days (Nehemiah 4, 6).

And remember
the five loaves of bread and two smelly fish? Jesus used that which most
considered enough to feed only a small boy to instead feed 5,000 men
plus women and children (Matthew 14).

God specializes in making somethings from nothings.

Consider
again my Lima beans. After sitting on my pantry shelf for at least a year--left over from last year's science project--the chance of the beans growing seemed slim. However, once I began to give the beans that which they so desperately needed--sunlight, water and food--they began to flourish. Beans which were once ignored. discarded. rejected. forgotten.

From something that seemed as good as dead

Grew this plant, teeming with life.

We even knocked our plant sideways to observe how it would respond.

But once life emerged from our bean, nothing could stop it from stretching toward the sky.

If God can do this with a Lima bean, what can He do with you?

Do you feel as if you've been placed on a shelf? Ignored? Discarded?
Rejected? Forgotten? Ever felt like a heap of rubbish? Its never too late.

God
specializes in making somethings from nothings.

Come out of the
darkness and place yourself before the Son. Wrap yourself in humility
professing your inequities before God. Soak in the Living Water. Absorb
your daily bread. And what others once considered as good as dead will
soon be teeming with life.