Famous for Nothing
This post is dedicated to my husband, who I desire to discover holiness alongside.
The Netflix trailers started playing and Tucker said, “Man, I really want to be famous” as he educated me on Jake Paul. Not 1 minute later, Johnny Manziel’s preview begins and he goes on to admit, “… and I was the emptiest I had ever been.” He had money, power, fame, and talent, and still, he wasn’t happy. I looked at Tucker and asked, “Did you hear what he said?” When he looked at me confused, we proceeded to break it down. We hear this all the time – high-level individuals who attempt suicide, overdose, buckle under expectations and pressure, get swallowed into consumerism and sponsorship commitments, etc. They seem to have everything in the world… and nothing at all.
I have always taught my students that nothing God does in our physical world is separate from our spiritual world, and vice versa. It makes me consider that holiness, therefore happiness, may be found in the being without – both physically and spiritually. We teach that God, the sole creator, created everything ex nihilo. He created being where there was none. Could it be true that He does His best work in the nothingness?
In teaching Salvation History for many years, I spent a lot of time in the Old Testament. But, my favorite Scripture to illustrate that history is the entirety of Hebrews 11. Most people have heard that first line that so eloquently defines faith. But, the whole chapter, titled “Faith of the Ancients,” really summarizes the profound faith of the Old Testament’s famous figures. My favorite footnote in that section reads: “They accepted in faith God’s guarantee of the future.”
Noah “with reverence built an ark for the salvation of his household” (11:7) while God wiped the rest of the world away. Nothingness was God’s intention. Abraham left his home and everything he knew toward a land he had never seen with no assurance other than hope in a God who kept making promises. At one point, he was even willing to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. The ultimate surrender, willing to have nothing left. The Israelites, called Chosen by God and assured a land with descendants more numerous than the stars, endured very desolate and empty circumstances throughout Scripture. After spending hundreds of years in slavery in Egypt - having nothing of their own - Moses led them to the desert for 40 years. Here they complained many times about being alone, hungry, and unprotected. They grumbled and asked Moses and Aaron, “Why didn’t you just leave us in Egypt where we had everything we needed?” The priests, prophets, and kings of the Old Testament endured persecution, mockery, torture, and desolation. These famous figures are the ones who made room for God to use their nothingness to author the story of Salvation. And, the power players of the New Testament faced the same adversity – martyrdom, isolation, imprisonment, abandonment, and more. We see the beautiful faith of the poor widow in Mark’s gospel who gives Jesus everything she has, which, by the world’s standards, was nothing at all. We read of the blind man who Jesus heals with nothing but mud. I have always had a heart for the hemorrhaging woman who bled for 12 years. I know she had tried it all, yet never was she healed. And, with nothing but faith in the fringe of His garment, she is healed. The stories of the Scriptures are filled with abundant faith, in desolate and difficult circumstances. In many cases, they had nothing except their faith… which is everything.
In all of these scenarios, just like in my own life, I have to get past the pride of relying on myself, of not needing a God. I have to remember that we don’t win anything for our career success, monetary value, fame, accomplishments, homes we live in, or cars we drive. That’s a whole lot of “stuff” that gets us absolutely nothing. We cling to these things because it gives us a false sense of victory, control, or stability. The real value is when we learn to make room for Him. When I am not comfortable, when I am lacking attachments, when I am overthinking, when it doesn’t go according to my plans, when I am without, when I walk through uncharted territory, when I am scared and anxious, when I have nothing to cling to… the Lord is doing His best work in me. It’s here He expands my capacity for Him. This is where my holiness can be found.
The challenge is, of course, “accepting in faith God’s guarantee of the future.” Allowing yourself to meet Him in the nothing requires extraordinary trust in a plan you can’t see, in a promise you hope is true. Perhaps the greatest illustration of His guarantee was an empty tomb, where nothing remained.
