(September 12, 1990)
It was empty. What a rip-off. Someone had taken the eye drops out of the container, put it back on the shelf, and let some poor, unsuspecting customer (me) buy an empty box. I was annoyed and disappointed.
It reminded me of my oldest child’s first temper tantrum. He was hot and bored and his aunt didn’t have any ice cream so she offered him an empty cone. He took one look inside it, threw it and himself on the floor, and let the whole block know he was not very happy.
I didn’t do that. Instead, I went back to the store where they promptly gave me what I wanted. The clerk said it happens all the time; first time for me.
On the way home, I thought about some people who, no matter what they try or buy, wind up with a lot of “empty boxes.” That is, they follow the television commercials or someone’s endorsement and go for new jobs, new cars, blind dates, or business ventures that up front look promising, but for some reason, nothing ever satisfies them. I’m not immune. There have been several products that appeared attractive to begin with yet left me with a sour taste, wishing I hadn’t wasted my time, money, and energy.
Part of the problem is expectations. Think of it; if I thought I was buying an empty box, I wouldn’t have been disappointed. If my child had looked for a nice, light snack, an empty cone would have filled the bill.
This issue of expectations even enters into how people react to God’s Son. In the New Testament, a whole crowd of people turned away from Jesus and stopped following Him simply because He didn’t deliver what they expected.
The scene was Capernaum on the sea of Galilee. Along comes this Man with the uncanny ability to multiply a few loaves of bread into a whole bakery -- enough to feed several thousand tired, hungry people. Can you imagine what a modern food marketing board would do with Him?
It was long before cartels and food chains were invented and there were no advertising and promotion executives in the crowd but as they talked about Moses and manna from heaven, Jesus knew they were thinking along those lines. He would have to set them straight.
His speech began: “... I say to you, Moses didn’t give you that bread from heaven; but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven; for the bread of God is He which comes down from heaven, and gives life unto the world.”
For a few moments, what He was saying sounded maybe even better than bread. He continued: “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.”
That sounded okay too -- but it wasn’t exactly what they had in mind. Some of them were thinking of their stomach, some their pocketbooks. How could a man who called himself “bread” do either one any good?
As they grumbled and tried to understand what He was talking about, Jesus went on to explain how God sent Him, the Bread of Life, to the world that sinners might be saved... not from mere physical hunger but from spiritual death. And at that point, they may have been intrigued -- but then He added: “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world... Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.”
That did it. They wanted food and profit, not any weird relationship that smacked of cannibalism. Jesus went on to explain, “It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you are spiritual words, and words of life...” but to no avail... “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.”
Only a handful stuck around to find out what true bread really was. Later He asked them if they would leave too but they knew He alone had “the words of eternal life.” Those few were prepared to give up prior expectations and receive what He came to give... not demand what they themselves desired, and what they got was not an empty box.
Showing posts with label empty places filled. Show all posts
Showing posts with label empty places filled. Show all posts
Friday, February 13, 2015
Friday, February 6, 2015
No one is ever really alone ................. Parables 232
(September 19, 1990)
Some people have a great deal of difficulty leaving a blank piece of paper blank. Their urge to make their mark, whether on a napkin or a newly painted wall, is just too powerful to resist. Out comes pen or pocket knife and the void is filled with poems, doodles, sketches, or graffiti.
Others feel ill at ease and self-conscious with complete silence. They have a compulsion to fill it with noise. Talking, turning on the radio or just drumming fingers on the nearest table top becomes a must.
For some, solitude is equally uncomfortable, another blank space that must be filled. Some manage better than others but even loners discover that solitude can last too long. In fact, when confined, few people remain unaffected. Most want noise, activity, other people, something, anything. No wonder solitary is used as a punishment in correctional institutions.
Solitude isn’t God’s punishment though. In fact, I don’t think He wants us to experience it, or its sidekick, loneliness. Neither word is even in the Bible. When God created the first man, He said, “It is not good that man should be alone...” thus Eve was created to be his companion. But sometimes there is no one or nothing to fill our solitude. When that happens, we ought not feel completely abandoned. God did say, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Of course He won’t; it is impossible for Him to do so. He is everywhere. There is no place we can go to escape Him, so no one is ever really alone.
Maybe that is why it is so difficult to be in solitude. With no noise, no diversions, no one else to communicate with, we are left alone in His company. If we have a true concept of God, being shut up with Him is sure to be a disconcerting experience, one that is bound to result in certain responses. One of those might be resistance...
WRESTLING: Jacob, the Old Testament patriarch, spent all one night alone, wrestling with God. He desired a blessing from Him and God desired submission from Jacob. By morning, both were winners: God gave the blessing and from that time on, Jacob was a changed man. If solitude with God winds up in a wrestling match, we profit if we remember that losing is winning. Submission to Him always results in a blessing.
PRAYER: The only times Jesus was alone, at least that are recorded, are occasions when He sought solitude to pray. When we submit to the Lord, solitude can be an excellent time to talk to the only other Person with us in it -- and of course, a great time to listen to Him.
LEARNING: During the many occasions that the disciples spent alone with Jesus, they learned truths He couldn’t teach them in a larger group. For us, solitude also can be a great time to learn from the Lord in a very direct and personal way; but we must listen, not drown Him out with noises of our own.
RETREAT: In John 6:15, we are told the people decided Jesus would make a great king so tried to force Him into the role. Since it was not God’s will at that time, He took off to the mountains, alone. Sometimes the only way we can escape the pressures of our world is to retreat and get away from the pressure. Besides, being alone with Him will better equip us to deal with it.
SEEING JESUS: Perhaps the greatest profit in being alone is realizing who is there with us. In Luke 9, the disciples were alone with Jesus and He asked them who they thought He was. They responded with, “You are the Christ of God.” They knew His identity because each time they were alone with Him He revealed Himself to them in increasing intimacy until finally they were convinced. From then on, their lives were transformed and they became world-changers. It can happen to anyone who values being face to face with Christ.
Solitude might not be our choice at times, but when it is God’s choice for us, it helps us to remember we are never really alone. He is there to fill the empty space and give beauty and meaning to it. Instead of shutting out His voice by turning on the radio or rushing to the telephone, we can choose aloneness to be a wonder-filled opportunity to talk to the Lord, to hear what He has to say and in the process, become more intimate with Him.
Some people have a great deal of difficulty leaving a blank piece of paper blank. Their urge to make their mark, whether on a napkin or a newly painted wall, is just too powerful to resist. Out comes pen or pocket knife and the void is filled with poems, doodles, sketches, or graffiti.
Others feel ill at ease and self-conscious with complete silence. They have a compulsion to fill it with noise. Talking, turning on the radio or just drumming fingers on the nearest table top becomes a must.
For some, solitude is equally uncomfortable, another blank space that must be filled. Some manage better than others but even loners discover that solitude can last too long. In fact, when confined, few people remain unaffected. Most want noise, activity, other people, something, anything. No wonder solitary is used as a punishment in correctional institutions.
Solitude isn’t God’s punishment though. In fact, I don’t think He wants us to experience it, or its sidekick, loneliness. Neither word is even in the Bible. When God created the first man, He said, “It is not good that man should be alone...” thus Eve was created to be his companion. But sometimes there is no one or nothing to fill our solitude. When that happens, we ought not feel completely abandoned. God did say, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Of course He won’t; it is impossible for Him to do so. He is everywhere. There is no place we can go to escape Him, so no one is ever really alone.
Maybe that is why it is so difficult to be in solitude. With no noise, no diversions, no one else to communicate with, we are left alone in His company. If we have a true concept of God, being shut up with Him is sure to be a disconcerting experience, one that is bound to result in certain responses. One of those might be resistance...
WRESTLING: Jacob, the Old Testament patriarch, spent all one night alone, wrestling with God. He desired a blessing from Him and God desired submission from Jacob. By morning, both were winners: God gave the blessing and from that time on, Jacob was a changed man. If solitude with God winds up in a wrestling match, we profit if we remember that losing is winning. Submission to Him always results in a blessing.
PRAYER: The only times Jesus was alone, at least that are recorded, are occasions when He sought solitude to pray. When we submit to the Lord, solitude can be an excellent time to talk to the only other Person with us in it -- and of course, a great time to listen to Him.
LEARNING: During the many occasions that the disciples spent alone with Jesus, they learned truths He couldn’t teach them in a larger group. For us, solitude also can be a great time to learn from the Lord in a very direct and personal way; but we must listen, not drown Him out with noises of our own.
RETREAT: In John 6:15, we are told the people decided Jesus would make a great king so tried to force Him into the role. Since it was not God’s will at that time, He took off to the mountains, alone. Sometimes the only way we can escape the pressures of our world is to retreat and get away from the pressure. Besides, being alone with Him will better equip us to deal with it.
SEEING JESUS: Perhaps the greatest profit in being alone is realizing who is there with us. In Luke 9, the disciples were alone with Jesus and He asked them who they thought He was. They responded with, “You are the Christ of God.” They knew His identity because each time they were alone with Him He revealed Himself to them in increasing intimacy until finally they were convinced. From then on, their lives were transformed and they became world-changers. It can happen to anyone who values being face to face with Christ.
Solitude might not be our choice at times, but when it is God’s choice for us, it helps us to remember we are never really alone. He is there to fill the empty space and give beauty and meaning to it. Instead of shutting out His voice by turning on the radio or rushing to the telephone, we can choose aloneness to be a wonder-filled opportunity to talk to the Lord, to hear what He has to say and in the process, become more intimate with Him.
Monday, July 21, 2014
Loneliness affects people in different ways ................ Parables 146
The little girl sat by herself In the school yard. The other children, grouped in giggles and line-ups at swing and slide, ignored her. She once tried to play with them, even twice, but something was missing. She felt better alone, drawing pictures in the dirt with a stick.
I’ve been in groups and felt like that. Nice people and good conversation, but something that for a long time was without name of definition, called me away to a corner. When I got there, this elusive something seemed partially satisfied but never quite fulfilled.
Most people call this hunger pang of the soul “loneliness.” It is a strange affliction. No one is immune. It strikes first like a bothersome insect, stinging and annoying. It can grip anyone, anywhere, anytime, even during the Christmas holidays, even in a room full of family and friends, even at a banquet table, or in a crowded mall, or by the fireplace when its victim is cuddled with the one they love the most.
Some can shake it off. They grab another fork full of stuffing, or a handful of peanuts, or hug a few loved ones, or even slip into a store, impulsively buying some trinket that catches their eye. For them, loneliness is a little pest easily dealt with, swatted like a mosquito and pushed aside as an ordinary nuisance.
For others, loneliness is more like a ball and chain that clings and clanks and drags, a dead weight that refuses all invitations to leave. Anything from a new suit of clothes, or a new car, a phone call to a friend, a walk with a buddy in the park, or maybe even a trip to Hawaii, or artificial gaiety found in a bottle, nothing really fixes this recurring, haunting kind of empty-inside feeling.
Granted, sometimes loneliness has a cause. Loved ones leave us. Children hurt us. Friends forsake us. But even if they don’t, it still hovers near, maybe just for a perplexing moment, maybe dragging longer and longer until it seems there is no cure.
The famous evangelist, Billy Graham spoke of this kind of aching, longing loneliness. He said it is the heart of man lonely for the One who created Him; it is a deep inner aching for God.
The Psalmist said, “My heart thirsts after Thee...” Another saint of old said that no man’s soul can ever be at rest until it finds its rest in Christ.
One of my friends told me how God arrested her attention by this statement: We were created with a God-shaped void. We foolishly try to fill it with all sorts of things but nothing fits. She told me no matter what she had, or how much, there never seemed to be total satisfaction. Something was missing. Shortly after, she received Jesus Christ she joyfully proclaimed, “He fits those empty spaces!”
The song-writer says, “Hallelujah” I have found him, Whom my soul so long has craved! Jesus satisfies my longings; through His blood I now am saved.”
Jesus takes away the longing ache of loneliness. But what does it mean to be saved? Can there be enjoyment of His presence, filling the lonely void, without this experience too? Salvation is God’s gift to whoever believes in Jesus Christ, that He died for our sins, was buried, and rose from the dead. Salvation is God’ s powerful work to keep sinners safe from eternal destruction.
Salvation is the removal of sin — its penalty and its power. Salvation deals with our sin. Although sin seems unrelated to loneliness, sin is the barrier that prevents God from coming into that aching place in our hearts. Without salvation, without faith in Jesus Christ, our sin keeps the Lord of glory from filling the void. But when He is given our faith and our hearts, He comes into our lives, filling that empty ache with His presence.
Now I know what loneliness really is, and it can never again be a pest or a ball and chain. Instead it is a personal invitation from Him to draw aside, to commune with Him, and to let Him be whatever I need.
I’ve been in groups and felt like that. Nice people and good conversation, but something that for a long time was without name of definition, called me away to a corner. When I got there, this elusive something seemed partially satisfied but never quite fulfilled.
Most people call this hunger pang of the soul “loneliness.” It is a strange affliction. No one is immune. It strikes first like a bothersome insect, stinging and annoying. It can grip anyone, anywhere, anytime, even during the Christmas holidays, even in a room full of family and friends, even at a banquet table, or in a crowded mall, or by the fireplace when its victim is cuddled with the one they love the most.
Some can shake it off. They grab another fork full of stuffing, or a handful of peanuts, or hug a few loved ones, or even slip into a store, impulsively buying some trinket that catches their eye. For them, loneliness is a little pest easily dealt with, swatted like a mosquito and pushed aside as an ordinary nuisance.
For others, loneliness is more like a ball and chain that clings and clanks and drags, a dead weight that refuses all invitations to leave. Anything from a new suit of clothes, or a new car, a phone call to a friend, a walk with a buddy in the park, or maybe even a trip to Hawaii, or artificial gaiety found in a bottle, nothing really fixes this recurring, haunting kind of empty-inside feeling.
Granted, sometimes loneliness has a cause. Loved ones leave us. Children hurt us. Friends forsake us. But even if they don’t, it still hovers near, maybe just for a perplexing moment, maybe dragging longer and longer until it seems there is no cure.
The famous evangelist, Billy Graham spoke of this kind of aching, longing loneliness. He said it is the heart of man lonely for the One who created Him; it is a deep inner aching for God.
The Psalmist said, “My heart thirsts after Thee...” Another saint of old said that no man’s soul can ever be at rest until it finds its rest in Christ.
One of my friends told me how God arrested her attention by this statement: We were created with a God-shaped void. We foolishly try to fill it with all sorts of things but nothing fits. She told me no matter what she had, or how much, there never seemed to be total satisfaction. Something was missing. Shortly after, she received Jesus Christ she joyfully proclaimed, “He fits those empty spaces!”
The song-writer says, “Hallelujah” I have found him, Whom my soul so long has craved! Jesus satisfies my longings; through His blood I now am saved.”
Jesus takes away the longing ache of loneliness. But what does it mean to be saved? Can there be enjoyment of His presence, filling the lonely void, without this experience too? Salvation is God’s gift to whoever believes in Jesus Christ, that He died for our sins, was buried, and rose from the dead. Salvation is God’ s powerful work to keep sinners safe from eternal destruction.
Salvation is the removal of sin — its penalty and its power. Salvation deals with our sin. Although sin seems unrelated to loneliness, sin is the barrier that prevents God from coming into that aching place in our hearts. Without salvation, without faith in Jesus Christ, our sin keeps the Lord of glory from filling the void. But when He is given our faith and our hearts, He comes into our lives, filling that empty ache with His presence.
Now I know what loneliness really is, and it can never again be a pest or a ball and chain. Instead it is a personal invitation from Him to draw aside, to commune with Him, and to let Him be whatever I need.
Monday, December 2, 2013
God fills the void .................................... Parables 048
The farm lane was longer than most, lined with junior fir trees and iced with snowdrift frosting. It looked untouched, even in the darkness.
“It is easy to see that the children have grown,” we chuckled, “There are no tracks, no forts, no tunnels, no angels in the snow.”
It seems to be a compulsion for youngsters, and even some adults, to make their mark in the expanse of a snow drift. If there is a space of any kind, it is like us to want to fill it; whether it is snow, a blank wall, a sheet of paper, or even silence. Something in us cannot leave a thing void, without putting something there.
That is an evidence of our origin, that we are created in the image of God. While our graffiti is perhaps a perversion, the inner compulsion to fill a space with something, is very much like the One who created us. This characteristic of God is revealed in the opening verses of the Old Testament. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and void . . . ” Genesis 1:1-2.
Regardless of the implications of the earth being formless and void, God didn’t leave it that way. He said, “Let there be light . . . expanse . . . vegetation . . . sun . . . moon . . . stars . . . fish . . . birds . . . animals . . . and man made in our image, after our likeness.”
And all these things filled the void.
Each of us, because we are made in the image of God, have the same desire to put something in the places that are void, blank, without anything. We hang pictures on the wall, or doodle on notepads. We fill silence with music, or sometimes just with noise. It is part of who we are to be attracted to the snow drifts, to lie down on our backs, wave our arms and legs, and leave the impression of angels. The posture may not be dignified, but part of the reason that it feels good is that it is an expression of our identity.
Besides the filling of a void at creation, God also created a void when He made our hearts. It is hard to define, a hollow spot that gnaws at us at times. Some mistake it for loneliness, or hunger, or a desire for money, or clothes, or things, but we cannot fill it with any of those. None of them fit, because this is a God-shaped space. Even should we squeeze other things in, the vague unrest goes unsatisfied.
The only One who can fill that void is the One who moved out when sin moved in. But He longs to return, to fill us. Ephesians 3 says, “I pray that . . . Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith . . . and . . . that you, being rooted and established in love . . . may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
Colossians 2:9 tells us that “in Christ dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily,” and when we have Christ, we are “complete in Him,” with no void, no blanks.
We change snowdrifts forever by impressing “angels” in them. God changes us forever when He fills our empty spaces with Himself.
“It is easy to see that the children have grown,” we chuckled, “There are no tracks, no forts, no tunnels, no angels in the snow.”
It seems to be a compulsion for youngsters, and even some adults, to make their mark in the expanse of a snow drift. If there is a space of any kind, it is like us to want to fill it; whether it is snow, a blank wall, a sheet of paper, or even silence. Something in us cannot leave a thing void, without putting something there.
That is an evidence of our origin, that we are created in the image of God. While our graffiti is perhaps a perversion, the inner compulsion to fill a space with something, is very much like the One who created us. This characteristic of God is revealed in the opening verses of the Old Testament. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and void . . . ” Genesis 1:1-2.
Regardless of the implications of the earth being formless and void, God didn’t leave it that way. He said, “Let there be light . . . expanse . . . vegetation . . . sun . . . moon . . . stars . . . fish . . . birds . . . animals . . . and man made in our image, after our likeness.”
And all these things filled the void.
Each of us, because we are made in the image of God, have the same desire to put something in the places that are void, blank, without anything. We hang pictures on the wall, or doodle on notepads. We fill silence with music, or sometimes just with noise. It is part of who we are to be attracted to the snow drifts, to lie down on our backs, wave our arms and legs, and leave the impression of angels. The posture may not be dignified, but part of the reason that it feels good is that it is an expression of our identity.
Besides the filling of a void at creation, God also created a void when He made our hearts. It is hard to define, a hollow spot that gnaws at us at times. Some mistake it for loneliness, or hunger, or a desire for money, or clothes, or things, but we cannot fill it with any of those. None of them fit, because this is a God-shaped space. Even should we squeeze other things in, the vague unrest goes unsatisfied.
The only One who can fill that void is the One who moved out when sin moved in. But He longs to return, to fill us. Ephesians 3 says, “I pray that . . . Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith . . . and . . . that you, being rooted and established in love . . . may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
Colossians 2:9 tells us that “in Christ dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily,” and when we have Christ, we are “complete in Him,” with no void, no blanks.
We change snowdrifts forever by impressing “angels” in them. God changes us forever when He fills our empty spaces with Himself.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)