NOTHING
by Nina Williams
"I'll do whatever you want." I made that statement to God one evening. I was trying to write an article, but it seemed that it was going nowhere. As usual, I went to the kitchen and tried to clear my head. "God. I don't know what else to say. Or how to end it. Or how to tie it to anything." I closed the dishwasher and turned to the refrigerator for a drink of water. There just didn't seem to be any way that I could send that letter. I had written it from my heart, but somehow, I couldn't find God in it.
"So, God. I can change it this way. Or I can go this way. Or I can just delete it. But I did spend a lot of time on it. What do you want me to do?"
"Nothing."
I thought about that for a second. "Nothing? What do you mean? Some of these people count on receiving this letter. Don't you want me to send something?"
Then it seemed that a light bulb went off in my mind.
I realized that there are a lot of people who desire to do what God wants. They want the best that God has to offer, but somehow, it just doesn't seem that anything is working out. Perhaps you are one of those people. Perhaps you felt that you heard the Lord tell you to do something. Or that He was going to do something for you. Perhaps you are believing for your health, or finances, or for loved ones to be saved. You've prayed and believed. And then you've waited. And nothing it seems is going the way it should. At some point, it seems that things have even gotten worse. Or that nothing is ever going to change.
Now you have even begun to feel hopeless. You doubt whether or not you even heard God speak to you. Satan has tried to convince you that what you are doing isn't working. He's come to you in thoughts, telling you that you should have done this instead of that. Or told you that since one thing didn't work, you should forget it and try something else. Perhaps you've even asked God what to do. And you haven't heard anything. Or have you? There is a difference between hearing nothing from God and God telling you to do nothing. Sometimes doing nothing can be more difficult to do than actually physically doing something. All of our natural senses tell us that we should be doing something . . . anything. Ephesians 6 talks about putting on the whole armor of God. Verses 13-14 tell us ". . .and having done all, to stand. Stand, . . . Sometimes it can be very difficult to just stand and not do anything else.
Once you have prayed and found the will of God for your situation, you need to commit to doing only what God has instructed. Remember to wait on the perfect timing of the Lord. Often times, we are too eager to move on to something else if we don't see immediate results. Mark 11:22 tells us to have faith in God. James 1:6-8 tells us that if we waver we shall not receive anything of the Lord, and that if we are double minded we are unstable in all our ways.
So what should you do when God has told you to do nothing? I am reminded of David at Ziklag. I Samuel 30:6 tells us that David was greatly distressed. Everyone had turned against him. Nothing was going right. So what did David do? He encouraged himself in the Lord. Read on and look at what a great victory David had.
Is everything going wrong in your life? Does it seem that everyone has turned on you? Do you need victory? While you are waiting on God's perfect timing, encourage yourself in the Lord. Once you begin to recall the things God has brought you through and delivered you from in the past, it will be easier to believe that He will be with you always, even to the end of the world. (Matthew 28:20)
Once you realize that he is going to be with you no matter what, it will be easier to obey - even when he tells you to do nothing.
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