"ex nihilo"

The latin word "ex nihilo" which means out of nothing refers to God's creative act of creating the universe out of nothing.
Have you ever wondered what is the value of "nothing"? Maybe for humanity nothing means useless, meaningless....disposable. But not so with God. In fact, nothing is the very thing that is needed for God to do something significant.
Why should Moses spend forty years in the wilderness? Shouldn't his gifted leadership skills be better used in the city rather than 'wasting' away in the desert? What was so significant about the desert? Everyday is the same: boring, monotonous and...yes, you got it "nothing". But what was God doing in Moses' life in these 40 years? Why wasn't God showing Himself to be 'great' and 'mighty'. In fact, Moses would have thought God had disappeared from the scene.
As we reflect on Moses' life, we begin to discover that those forty years in the desert is an essential part of God's preparation. Maybe, an important part of that work of God in Moses' life is for him to come into terms with the truth of who he was on his own: nothing.
Pastor Susan Tang in her book, 'remain hidden' talks about how God kept our Lord Jesus "hidden" for the first thirty years of his life. It is no surprise then for us to hear what our Lord said in John 5:19, "the son can do nothing by himself."
Unless we become empty, God can not fill us. Unless we realise our true nature, apart from God - nothing, God can do so little with our lives. But, how do we come to that place where we discover the truth and reality of our lives?