Rejoice in Nothing?

Rejoice in nothing. These words hit me today as some students talked about their recent trip to Haiti. "They had nothing in the past and they have no hope for a better future, no matter how hard they work, but they rejoice in nothing."

I think what struck me most was the idea of no hope for the future. Here in America we value hard work, probably in part because we believe if we work hard, we can accomplish (almost) anything. The future is ours.  What would happen to our worldview if this was no longer the case?

We sang a song in church the other day. I don't specifically remember which one, but it contained the sentiment, "I'll follow wherever you lead, Lord. My life is yours to use as you will."  It is an admirable sentiment, and I suppose we even mean it when we sing it most of the time.  Or, at least, we think we mean it.  What we probably really mean is that we are willing to go anywhere and do anything.  "I will even live off of bugs in the jungles of Africa, Lord, if that's what you want," we think, proud of our submission to God's will.  GO and DO are big in our thoughts.  But what if it's God's will for us to STAY and WAIT?  What if His use for our life is for us to be useless (or to feel that way)?  We don't seem to have a place for that in our American theology, and yet I know that I am not the only person to go through what feels like a season of uselessness.

We emphasize verses that say "Go and make disciples" and tend to ignore the verses that say "Be still and know."  I am not sure how to make room in our theology and worldview for failure and uselessness, but I think we need to do so.  God has always used failure, and there may come a time (like in Haiti?) when it is less possible to GO and DO.  What happens to our Christianity when we no longer feel useful?  Can we learn to rejoice in nothing?

Prayer of St. Augustine

O God, by whose laws the poles revolve,

The stars follow their courses,

The sun rules the day

And the moon presides over the night;

And all the world maintains,

As far as this world of sense allows,

The wondrous stability of things

By means of the orders and recurrences of seasons:

Through the days by the changing of light and darkness,

Through the months by the moon's progressions and declines,

Through the years by the successions of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter,

Through the cycles by the completion of the sun's course,

Through the great eras of time by the return of the stars to their starting points.

God of life,

There are days when the burdens we carry chafe our shoulders

And wear us down;

When the road seems dreary and endless,

The skies grey and threatening,

When our lives have no music in them,

And our hearts are lonely,

And our souls have lost their courage.

Flood the path with light, we beseech you;

Turn our eyes to where the skies are full of promise.

Our hearts are restless, O Lord, until they rest in you.