Over the past two weeks, God has taken away just about everything we worship. God has said, “You want to worship athletes? I will shut down stadiums and tournaments. You want to worship musicians? I will cancel concerts and close Broadway. You want to worship actors? I will shut down theaters. You want to worship money? I will shut down the economy and collapse the stock market. You want to worship your job? I will shutter your company and send you home.” In just two weeks, God has suddenly, one-by-one, taken away just about everything we love to worship.
So what’s left? Everything! At least, everything that matters. The apostle Paul knew what it was really like to have nothing. He knew what it was truly like to lose everything. Yet, as he sat in prison, do you know what he wrote? “Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:7-8). God had convinced Paul of a life-changing truth: If he had Jesus his Savior, he had absolutely everything he needed. Because if he had Jesus, he had forgiveness. Eternal life. Peace. Joy.
I know our kids are out of school, but here’s the most important math for you and them to know: Jesus + Nothing = Everything. Maybe God is taking away our wealth and health and jobs and plans so that we see so much more clearly what we really have in him. I pray that as God takes away the distractions of the world, you and your family are able to focus on the only thing that really matters: Jesus. Because Jesus + Nothing = Everything.
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