For the last several weeks I have been involved in a city-wide Bible Study called "Becoming a Vessel God Can Use" by Donna Partow. In the study Donna teaches what it means to be emptied of self in order to be
filled up with God.
As I have thought about this Truth from the Word of God, it has made me stop and think about my own life, how it would look different if I truly allowed the Lord to empty me of myself. All my life I have been a goal setter. For years my motto was "plan your work and work your plan,"" and that is what I have done. To be emptied of my own agenda is such a foreign concept. The world tells us to strive, achieve, become, and then we will be successful. To think now we are to be emptied of our own agenda, our own dreams, and what we have striven for to make us happy seems almost absurd. Yet, that is what the Word of God says. It even tells us that "apart from me (God) you can do nothing." John 15:5. The last time I checked the word "nothing" in the dictionary the definition was quite clear! It means just what it says - no thing!! Do you think God is telling us that without Him there is no thing we can do? How could that be?
As I considered the goals I have set over the course of my life - and yes even reached, I realized they have always left me feeling like they weren't enough. Maybe enough for the awards I received for the achievement, or the sense of pride I had in making a goal a reality, but as far as lasting value, they have always come up short and left me with the feeling "Is this all there is? Is this what I worked so hard for?"
Then I started thinking about times in my life when the Lord has gone before me and opened doors for me to walk through. They have always been the times when what has been accomplished could have only come from God. I am always left feeling like I could burst with amazement over what God has done through me, and know it had to be Him or it would have never happened.
When I compared the two scenarios I realized what He meant when He said "without me you can do nothing." He is telling us that without Him we can do nothing of eternal value.
He is the One who
touches hearts
forgives sins
saves souls
reveals the Word of God
heals the brokenhearted
turns the ashes of our life into beauty
reconciles broken relationships
loves us unconditionally
Only what we allow Him to do through us is what will matter for eternity. It is for His glory that we live. It is His will be done, not ours that has any eternal value. It is God and God alone who deserves all praise.
To think He would allow me to have any part in His work on this earth at all is more than I can fathom. What a privilege we have been given to allow God to empty us of ourselves that He might fill us up!!
And I am left asking myself - "What is it I want my life to count for - eternal value or things of this world that I think are so important?" It is then my heart's cry becomes "empty me Lord, that I might be filled with You!"
