Do you ever just feel like, “I’ve got nothing.” Well, if you haven’t you probably will at some point.
It’s a fact of life that there are just some times that our minds go blank. You look at a problem, question, or task you have to do and there is nothing going on upstairs. You’re just blank! I probably shouldn’t admit this, but as a pastor this is a weekly occurrence for me. Whether it’s a sermon to preach, lesson to plan, worship songs to pick, or blog post to write, I am almost weekly (usually more than once a week) staring blankly off into space thinking, “I got nothin'”.
And this is totally different than the issue of running on empty that we talked about a couple weeks ago. You can be completely filled up with all the energy and positivity in the world and still the mind draws a blank. It’s usually because in these times I find it easier to think through all I have to do than able to focus on the solution to my current objective. Do you ever get there?
Thing is, this can easily take place in our spiritual lives. It is easier for me to focus on everything I need to or should be doing than the real objective. It’s easy to be overwhelmed with everything that needs to be done to be a “good christian.” Everything that is required to “do ministry.” All the while I’m missing out on what the whole thing is about; the objective sitting right in front of me: God.
Jesus felt this pull to be overwhelmed by the needs others placed on Him. He felt the drag of daily life that made it almost impossible to focus on the one necessity. And that is why, ladies and gentlemen, “He slipped away and prayed.” (my paraphrase, from a bunch of places in scripture) Christ knew that when He had nothing He needed to go to the guy with everything. It’s perfectly natural to draw a blank. To feel as though the inspiration and innovation are lacking. The Messiah felt it, and He answered it by taking some time with the Father.
Now this isn’t to say that God is a big idea box that whenever you need a new creative idea for that project at work or school you go running to Him, but I do believe that when we feel as though we having nothing going on upstairs it can be both our mind and body’s way of telling us who we need. Christ did this in Gethsemane. Let me encourage you to read some time today that account in Matthew 26:36-44. But for now, here is how I see it:
Overwhelmed by everything that lay ahead of Him and all He would have to do and endure, Christ is looking at the situation and thinking, “I’ve got nothing!” And so, of course, His first reaction is to go somewhere quiet and pray. That amazing prayer in verse 39 is His admission of having nothing to offer as an alternative, and still knowing what He would like done. However, and this is the beauty of it all, in the same breadth that He admits that He’s got nothing Christ also aligns His will with the Father’s. He asks for His inspiration, motivation, and actions to all come from one place. That, in His overwhelmed state, Christ asks to see the situation as the Father does. Prayer can do this! It’s not just about getting any kind of inspiration and insight into what lays ahead, but it’s about getting God’s.
Let me just say this in closing…This all requires stillness. I think there’s a verse somewhere that talks about being still. No not stillness that requires you going to a garden for a multiple hour prayer session. But a stillness of the soul that pushes out everything that is overwhelming and focuses on God and God alone. Of course, it can happen in a garden, but it can also happen in your car. At your desk. In the lunch room. On the way to class. Or really anywhere. This week when you feel like you’ve got nothing, practice, wherever you might be at in that moment, pushing out the distractions and being still with God. Let Him flood the blank spaces of your mind with His will.