Every time I have to ask God to give me something to write about because I don’t have the faintest idea. I am empty. Or at least, I can’t think of a single thing that will interest anyone else. We don’t like emptiness and want to fill it up as soon as we can. We don’t want an empty cup, but one that overflows (See Psalm 23:5). We fill our lives to overflowing. My schedule overflows with appointments, my cupboards overflow with clothes, my house is too small for everything I want to cram into it.

But, we remain empty inside.

Our minds are empty instead of being mindful. Our love tanks are empty (refer to the 5 love languages of Gary Chapman). We are hyper-connected, yet feel isolated and lonely. We stay busy because not having something to do could allow this creeping emptiness to overwhelm us.

And we keep on stuffing more things in to fulfill us from top to bottom on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The top of Maslow’s pyramid of needs is self-actualization, fulfillment. So we throw ourselves into careers and hobbies for life to make sense, and we work for the praise and appreciation of others to have self-esteem. We marry and have kids to fill our love and acceptance buckets. We buy insurance and save to feel the false security it brings and try to make the fear go away. We eat and exercise to try to push back our mortality.

But we remain empty.

We have to reach the point where we understand that there is only one solution for the emptiness. That Solution is Jesus. The book of Ephesians in the Bible talks eloquently about this and says about Jesus:

And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way (Ephesians 1:22-23).

You may have noticed in the pyramid that the verse quoted for self-actualization is not actually about that, but rather about God fulfilling his purpose through us. In fact, the whole point of life is that it is not for ourselves. It is not about our needs at all! It is about accomplishing the purpose of our Creator. But John Piper says it well: God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. Jesus meets our needs, and it brings Him glory. And that, my friends, fills us up. That removes the emptiness that we experience, permanently.

Last night I watched a movie on Netflix called “The Blind,” which is the story of Phil Robertson of “Duck Dynasty.” It shows how his life spirals further and further down as he tries and keeps trying to do life his way while his past and his addictions gradually get the better of him. But keep watching until the end to see the change. You will also experience how Jesus can change your life if you let Him.

And I need to at least add a few pics of our cats. Mayo (or Mayonnaise if you want) is the little one. And then there is Cotton.