Empty Places

All of us have them or least used to have them. They are called “empty places” and they represent our deepest unmet needs and longings. Usually these empty places manifest themselves in unpleasant mannerisms such as a craving gone awry. They often appear as an insatiable need or desire such as craving too much food, too much attention, or even making unnecessary demands on people. In idle attempts we try to fill them with “things” or with “people.” However, those things cannot satisfy us longterm, and, therefore, we are stuck in a perpetual state of unsatisfaction.

I have previously experienced much failure in this area before I recognized that these empty places are not meant to be filled with anything or anyone but God. I’ve learned that only He can bring a deep satisfaction to my soul when I allow Him to fill my empty places. I have wasted many years in frustration and anger expecting something else or some one else to fill my cup. Thankfully, I have found that only Jesus can do that.

The interesting thing is that even though we may be a Christian, salvation does not equal satisfaction. I think that may explain why there are many Christians today who are living unhappy, unfulfilled, and unproductive lives. They may even wonder what is wrong with them and why they are not satisfied in the Christian life. While salvation is certainly a gift from God, we can only find satisfaction in Him as we daily and deliberately surrender all parts of our lives to Him. The first step to changing our dissatisfaction is in recognizing that we are still empty. Christ desires that all of His children find satisfaction and fullness in Him. It is not reserved for an elect few.

Satan desires to deceive Christians into believing that once they are saved there is really nothing else they have to do. This is truly a deception. Living a Spirit-filled life is the key to living a liberated and joyful life. However, it does require our participation. In essence, we must do a little something. It requires seeking after God with all of our hearts and pursuing a love relationship with Him. Moreover, it requires allowing the love of God to fully penetrate all areas of our lives as we surrender to Him in loving obedience. Interestingly, if we hold back certain areas of our lives from Him, those are the very areas where we will not be liberated. Simply put, if we do not have freedom in a particular area of your life, it is because we have not given Christ authority over it. Freedom flows where the Spirit of the Lord flows, and we often resist giving God full control over certain parts of lives. Then we wonder why we aren’t satisfied! As believers in Christ, even though the Spirit of the Lord is always in us, He can only flood the parts of our lives where we give Him full authority. So, the second step in filling our empty places is to withhold no part of our lives from His authority. Surrender. Let go and let God do what only He can do. Joyce Meyers once said, “Do all that you can do, and then let God do what you can’t do.”

I believe the third and most important step in filling our empty places is to come to the full realization of how incredibly much God loves us. Ephesians 3:17 tells us to be “rooted and established in love.” A tree is only as strong as its roots are deep. Likewise, the deeper our roots are in God, the more we will be able to withstand the trials and difficulties of life. Because God is love, He cannot make a decision for our lives that lies outside of His love for us. Yes, this includes difficulties too, which He often allows in order to grow us in character and perseverance. Jesus eagerly longs for us to know the depth of His immense love that surpasses all human understanding. We will only be able to fully grasp it as we get this power from His Spirit. Because His Spirit lives in us, we can grab hold of this power as we give all authority of our lives to Him.

Ask yourself today if you have any of these “empty places” that only God can fill—hardships, injustices, loneliness, or other unmet needs. I’m convinced that one of our greatest desires of all is to be loved unconditionally, and God alone can offer us this unfailing love. No matter what we do, He cannot help but love us for God Is Love. He wants to flood our lives with His love, but the fullness of God is not a one-time occurrence like salvation is. We must come to Him daily, confess our sins, pour out our hearts, acknowledge our empty places, and then invite Him to fill us. And remember--when we do our part to draw near to Him, He will come running to us. He’s waiting to fill all of our empty places with His lavish love. The question is, “Will we come to Him?”

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Corinthians 3:17

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. 1 John 4:16

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Psalm 90:14

Come all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!...Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. Isaiah 55:1-3

Forgive and Forget

I excitedly hurried downstairs to wish my husband a happy anniversary. It had been 19 years filled with love and joy, as well as pain and sorrow, and all the other ups and downs expected in a good marriage. What I didn’t expect was the look of shock on my husband’s face. He was mortified as he totally forgot our anniversary. He always bragged about how he could never forget it since it is just two before taxes are due—April 13th. I did not want to add more grief to his already sorrowful emotions, so I simply said, “That’s okay. I know you have a lot on your mind.” He left for work deeply troubled over his ability to forget something so important. I’ll never forget what he said as I was trying to excuse his forgetfulness. “You only get so many anniversaries in your lifetime, 50 if you’re extremely fortunate, and there is simply no excuse to forget even one of them.” I must admit, deep down, it felt a little good that he was so remorseful over the whole thing. At least I knew he did care for me.

Later on that day I took a long walk outside. It was a sunny day and the temperature was perfect. It is amazing how a beautiful day can put a spring in your step. I was listening to my Ipod and praising God as I was happy to be alive and well. I did share a few small tears over the mere thought that a day so important to me could literally fly off the radar screen for someone I loved so much. Yet, I could hear God whisper to me, “Diana, I haven’t forgotten. Happy Anniversary, my child. I love you.” And then it occurred to me that He loves me so immeasurably more than I can even imagine. Can’t that be good enough? Must I always want more from others? Others who make mistakes and are just as human as I am? In those moments with Him, I realized that YES, it is enough. God’s love and affirmation is truly all I need. Everything else is just “icing on the cake.” In fact, I am convinced that is why I was able to forgive him so easily. I would not allow the enemy to wound me by attempting to make me feel unloved. I know that I am a child of God who is loved very much indeed. No human error will ever erase that fact.

It also occurred to me that God is a God who never forgets. And He sees everything, even those seemingly menial tasks that we do for our family day after day… endless loads of laundry, dirty dishes that never remain clean, tedious meal preparation, etc., etc. He sees and He knows. The tears you cry for your hurting friend, the insecurity you feel when you’re having a bad day, and the pain you feel in your heart when your kids make bad choices. Yet time after time we tend to run to others to make us feel better. Why can’t we just run to Him? He alone knows and sees!

I challenge you, as well as myself, to forgive those who let you down, and then remember that only God can never forget. Remember, He has even engraved you on the palms of His hands. I sincerely believe the more we run to Him, the less we will expect of others. And the ironic thing is, when He is all we need, we’ll gain even more. We’ll gain peace of mind, security, and trust, because we know that He never forgets.

Just so you know, God gave my husband an opportunity to redeem himself on our anniversary. That afternoon our daughter fell and slightly twisted her ankle, and the school nurse could not contact me. She called my husband, and he left work to pick her up. When I came home from work that afternoon, he was standing in the kitchen, a dozen red roses and a lit candle were on the table, and a lovely dinner was cooking in the oven. Isn’t God just amazing? I forgave my husband by letting the matter go and instead received God’s love and affirmation. And because God doesn’t forget—Lo and behold, my hubby pulled through!

Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will receive me. Psalm 27:10

…though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palm of my hands. Isaiah 49:15

Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven….for with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Luke 6:37

Get Moving!

I have a question for you. Do you think that God can do anything? I do. But I also believe that we often hinder God by our own passivity and inactivity. I’m sure you’ve heard of the story of the man who is drowning and yet refuses help. This man finds himself struggling to stay afloat in a huge sea. He calls out to God for help and before long a big ship arrives to save the man from drowning. He refuses the help because he is praying to God for rescue. He continues struggling to stay afloat. He cries out to God again asking for His help and another boat arrives. “No, thanks, I’m praying to God to save me.” The boat moves on. Now desperate for help, the man cries out to God, “Please, please, save me Lord. I’m drowning.” One last time a small boat arrives to rescue the man. He turns this boat away too because he is waiting on the Lord to save him. He drowns. When he sees Jesus face to face in heaven he asks the Lord why He allowed him to drown. After all, he’d prayed intently for deliverance. The Lord answers, “My child, I sent three boats to come and rescue you, but you turned each one of them away.” Wow! That speaks volumes. It tells me that “Yes” the Lord is ready, willing, and able to do anything; however, He often invites us to participate in our deliverance. In fact, more often than not, our participation is required! I call that “active” faith. Passive faith sits back and does nothing. Nothing of course, except maybe pray. Pray that God will take care of it all. Sometimes there is a place for that sort of prayer. Things are out of our control, out of our reach. But often there is something that we can do. I believe Jesus is saying, “Come on, let’s do it together.”

I recently listened to a sermon by Joyce Meyers that profoundly struck me. She proceeded to say that God promises to turn things around in our lives, but there is action we must take. The first thing we can do is change our mind. The second thing is to change our attitude. Simple yet profound! We must ask God what we can do to make our situation better. And then we just need to do what we can do, and let God do what we can’t do. Did you hear that?

JUST DO WHAT YOU CAN DO, AND LET GOD DO WHAT YOU CAN’T DO!

I just love that. It shows us that God is waiting on us. We should not just kick back and do nothing, yet expect Him to undo what we’ve done. Take for instance the drowning man. He obviously got himself into the water somehow. Now he’s begging God to undo the dilemma he got himself into. Maybe there is a relationship in your life that has gone awry. Could there be something that God wants you to do to rectify it? Or are you asking Him to take care of it all?

In John 5 a story is told of an invalid man who was waiting to receive healing at the pool of Bethesda. Many blind, lame and paralyzed were there expecting the healing waters to cure them of their ailments. Jesus came up to the man and asked him, “Do you want to get well?” The man made up excuses that he had no one to help him get into the pool and when he tried someone else got in ahead of him. I love Jesus’ response. He didn’t just tell him, he ordered him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured. The ironic thing about this story is that usually faith in Jesus is essential to the cure. In this case, the man thought the curative power was in the waters. He did not even know who Jesus was. This explains that while Jesus usually heals in response to faith, He is not limited by a person’s lack of it. Praise God! He has mercy on all of His children.

A change in your attitude can truly change your life. Change is vital for growth. Furthermore, it only comes because we confront the fear in our lives. My challenge for you is to Get Moving! Does something need to change or do you need to change something? Don’t sit around and be a victim. Pity is not power. Believe that with God you can do anything. God will grant you favor. Stop telling Him what you’re not and start looking at who He is! Be courageous. Remember, courage is not the absence of fear but the will to move forward in spite of it. Don’t allow Satan to keep you in defeat and discouragement. Take back what he has stolen. God has a wonderful and abundant life waiting for each one of His children. Will you settle for mediocrity and sit idly by doing nothing to make your situation better? Or will you Get Up and Get Moving? The choice is Yours to make.

“Do you want to get well?...Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” John 5:6, 5:8

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deut 31:6