“The objects I chose were designed to hold something, but I didn’t fill them up. They remained empty. They were little symbolic shrines to thirst.”  ― Margaret Atwood, Moral Disorder: and Other Stories

I’ve heard it said that we are all objects that need to be filled with something.  I’ve probably said it myself.  For example, if we don’t fill ourselves with fruits and vegetables we will probably fill ourselves with jelly beans.  If we don’t fill ourselves with valuable information we might fill ourselves with three hours of Godzilla.  In my line of work it usually sounds like this.  “We are made to be worshipers, if we are not worshiping God, we will worship someone or something else.”  It sounds good, and it’s probably true.  But there is another way of looking at the alternative choices of being filled and it’s summed up in one word.

Emptiness.

Sometimes, all I need to do is look into the eyes of people I encounter every weekend and I see it… emptiness.  No, I don’t consider myself a mind reader but I have a hunch.  I’m not the most perceptive individual but I’m pretty sure the rooms I walk into are not filled with poker players.  There are ‘tells’ that I see in their faces… and sometimes when I do speak with them they actually tell me just enough for me to see what’s happening.  I know they are empty.

There is an alternative to not being filled with ‘something’, it might be another ‘something’, but often it can just be summed up as being empty.  Emptiness is that hollow in-between time from one filling to the next. It’s a fragile place.

You might be empty because someone stole something from you.  It could be your family, your job, your childhood, your house, your reputation… something was taken from you and now you are caught in emptiness.

You might be empty because your eyes were bigger than your stomach.  You thought you could pay for it but you couldn’t afford it so now you’re broke.  You thought you could have the best of both worlds (pick your worlds) and now you have neither and all you have is a world of empty.

You might be empty.  Someone you know might be empty.  The question is, how do we keep ourselves and the others around us from being “symbolic shrines to thirst.”?

Ask yourself, what are you thirsty for?

It could be happiness.  It could be status.  It could be money.  It could be sex.  It could be power.

Those things are nice but if that’s really what you thirst for I have a hunch you’re going to return to the world of empty.

Two verses from the bible you should consider…

Psalm 34:8-10 – Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!  Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!  Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack!  The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

When you taste His drink you will lack no good thing!  His goodness can remove the empty!

Matthew 5:6 – Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.

God doesn’t desire that you stay empty.  God wants to fill you with His goodness and his blessing.  He wants you to be satisfied in Him so let your emptiness drive you there.

Here are some steps to consider…

1. Renew your mind… let God transform what you thirst for.
2. Take your time… be patient and wait on Him to serve You His drink.
3. Stay thirsty my friend… don’t forget – His cup overflows.  He will not run out.

In your journey out of emptiness consider this…

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” ― C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, and Other Addresses