The Vacuum Within
Here’s today’s big idea: I have a vacuum within that will be filled one way or another. I do have a choice in the how and the what of that filling.
No matter our religious bent, each of us arrived on planet Earth with an inner vacuum, a propelling urge, a hunger that won’t be sated. Some define it as curiosity played out in the desire to find answers to profound questions like:
- Where did I come from?
- Why am I here?
- How did the here around me get here in the first place?
Journey of discovery.
Life becomes a journey of discovery to uncover answers. Sit outside on a clear night away from the distracting lights of civilization and ponder the stars. Or visit the NASA websites and take time to browse through images from the various space-based telescopes. Those images flash a clear message to me—I am really small. I am not the center of the universe. There must be something or Someone larger than me out there.
The Creator designed us with that vacuum and longs to pour Himself into it, but He graciously allows us to conduct our own investigation. Keep in mind that either by the results of our proactive research, or by passively allowing the systems of thought around us to mold our thinking, that vacuum will be filled.
Why study God?
Why study God? What benefits come from an understanding of His attributes and character? How should I react to His documented likes and dislikes? Is He a reliable source of wisdom? Can I trust His counsel? Where can I read His resume or review His track record of dealings with humans? What is it about Him, other than His impressive list of names (God, Lord, Almighty, Jehovah, Adonai, and so on) that should ignite my desire to worship Him?
The Old Testament psalmist, David, forced to scurry around the wilderness while evading King Saul’s agents, learned something about physical needs especially thirst. Later David described his quest for fellowship with God, his insatiable desire to know God, in terms of that critical need for water.
O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water.
Psalms 63:1 NASB
Author Rubens Ruba agrees with David. God put that thirst within us, God desires to quench it, but God is patient. He waits to be invited. He certainly left plenty of clues as to His character, and He explains why our choice of Him outshines any world system, but the next move is ours.
“You have a God-thirst precisely because their is a God who wants to pour Himself into your life.”[1]
Danger around me.
The worldly influences around us demonstrate no such gentlemanly behavior. Those ideas and practices pound against our mental defenses until the smallest breach forms. They capitalize on that opening, move in, and take up residence leaving no space for God. John, the disciple of Jesus who outlived the others, warned his readers of this very danger.
Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.
1 John 2:15-17 NASB (Emphasis added)
Paul, the evangelist who wrote thirteen of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament, also waved the caution flag.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:2 NASB (Emphasis added)
Itchy ears.
Once the world system embeds itself in our vacuum space, we find little tolerance for teaching of truths that push against the status quo. Again, from Paul’s pen, come these words about itchy ears. When my ears become itchy I want to hear only what I need to hear to bring contentment to myself about my status quo. My attitude becomes, “Agree with me, accept my view, or be quiet!”
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
2 Timothy 4:3-4 NASB
My choice.
We can surrender without a fight and allow our vacuum to be filled passively. Or we can use our noodles, investigate, gather data, and perform comparisons between God’s offering and where He leads compared to the world’s dumpster fires raging around us.
We have a choice. I prefer to make informed choices rather than “wing it.” Perhaps you feel that way also. If so, continue to walk with me in this search to understand what God has revealed about Himself through myriad glimpses.
Boiler plating.
Please, feel free to share the Glimpses of God material, use the work with a Sunday School class or small group, and in general distribute this to help spread the knowledge of God to a needy world.
[1] Ruba, Rubens. Who is God? North Charleston: CreateSpace. 2016. p 6
