Where Are You Empty?

“The primary reason God withholds certain blessings, the lack of which creates big, empty places in our hearts and lives, is so He can fill those empty places with Himself. He cannot fill with the best what is already full with the mediocre.” ~ Lydia Brownback, Contentment: A Godly Woman's Adornment

Where are you empty? What is it you are lacking right now? Maybe it's a sense of security as our nation and world struggle through unprecedented economic uncertainty. Maybe you find yourself at the end of your rope in parenting - you have no idea what to do next. Maybe you're lonely, even in those times when you find yourself surrounded by people.

We all have those times in our lives where we are crying out to God for something that we lack. And He seems silent. He doesn't seem to care. Could it be like Brownback suggests, that God would rather we be emptied to allow room for Himself? 

What would happen, if in those moments where we face that lack, that emptiness, instead of asking God to fill it with what we desire, we ask Him to fill it with Himself? We have nothing to lose. But maybe we have everything to gain.

Augustine is known for praying a prayer that acknowledges this as truth. It goes like this:

“Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee..”

 I wonder if I'm daring enough to pray that prayer, to stop asking God to give me what I want, and instead ask Him to give me what He wants. Are we daring enough to let go of the mediocre so that we might be filled with the best?