DEC. 18, 2013
Not
All Empty
Read: Psalm
107:1-9
He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness.
—Psalm 107:9
Our
granddaughter Julia spent the summer working in an orphanage in Busia, Uganda.
On the final day of her internship, she went to the children to tell each one
goodbye. One little girl named Sumaya was very sad and said to her, “Tomorrow
you leave us, and next week the other aunties [interns] leave.”
When
Julia agreed that she was indeed leaving, Sumaya thought for a minute and
exclaimed, “But we will be all empty. None of you will be left!” Again, Julia
agreed. The little girl thought a few moments and replied: “But God will be
with us, so we won’t be all empty.”
If
we are honest with ourselves, we know that “all empty” feeling. It is an
emptiness that friendship, love, sex, money, power, popularity, or success can
never assuage—a longing for something indefinable, something incalculably
precious but lost. Every good thing can remind, beckon, and awaken in us a
greater desire for that elusive “something more.” The closest we get is a hint,
an echo in a face, a painting, a scene . . . . And then it is gone. “Our best
havings are wantings,” said C. S. Lewis.
We
were made for God, and in the end, nothing less will satisfy us. Without Him,
we are all empty. He alone fills the hungry with good things (Ps. 107:9).
Dear Lord, fill me with Your goodness and love.
I desire nothing in heaven and earth but You.
Without You, I have nothing. Thank You for the
abiding satisfaction that we can find in You.
God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself
because it is not there. —C. S. Lewis
Source:
Our Daily Bread 2012
