Gaps only God is meant to fill

Do you have a neighbor or acquaintance that you see, but haven’t gotten to know on a personal level? Do you find yourself letting your imagination fill in the blanks about their character and story based on their behavior or things you have heard?

We tend to make up stories about people until we get to know them and have our myths busted. I confess, I do this quite often; sometimes without realizing it, until I’m confronted with reality – the truth.

There is a man in our neighborhood whom I see regularly when I go for a run. He is usually loading his lawnmower onto his trailer as I run past. We say, ‘good morning’ and that’s about it. Other than that, I don’t know him. From observation, I can tell you that he mows lawns for a living. I will spare you the details I’ve concocted about the rest of his story. However, I will say that I saw something one morning recently that contradicted my beliefs. Hence, this message came to life. I still don’t know him or the truth, but my perspective on him and his character has shifted slightly.

This made me think about our relationship with God. I believe we are guilty of doing the same thing until we learn to know Him intimately, learn more about His character, and who He says we are.

We can know things about Him and hear the stories others tell about their experiences, and perhaps we ride on the coattails of our parents until one day they are gone. Then what? We may live vicariously through others or fill voids in our lives with false beliefs. Still, until we open the Book of God’s story and ask Him to reveal Himself to us by starting a conversation that leads to a real relationship with Him, we won’t understand who we are, nor will we reflect His love or character. We won’t experience a relationship with God of our own until we pursue it daily. Maybe some are like me, and I didn’t know how to do that or that it was possible until a few years ago, after a life-changing event. That is when I found my passion for teaching others about a relationship with Christ.

A few years ago, while traveling alone, I was on a layover in an airport and met a woman whom I had the chance to give my testimony about finding a relationship with God and how it changed my life. She questioned me about it at length, “You mean that is real, you can have a relationship with God?” I felt that she had longed for it for most of her life, as she shared bits and pieces of her story and mentioned that she had wondered about it but had not experienced it to this point.

This was a divine encounter as I had prayed for God to put people in my path on this trip who needed to hear my story. I was in line to purchase my lunch and planned to take it back to my seat at the gate, but God had other plans. As the woman in front of me received her food, she turned and asked if I thought we could sit at the tables in the distance. Without hesitation, I said we could try as I followed her to the tables. It wasn’t long before she asked about the purpose of my trip, and our conversation about God followed.

I pursued the wrong things to fill the gaps in my life for many years until I finally found the only One who was meant to fill them – Jesus Christ.  I am grateful that God uses my painful stories to bring the Good News to others.

Are there voids in your life that only God is meant to fill?  Have you pursued a life-changing relationship with Christ? You are never too old to start. God is waiting with open arms for your surrender. It may seem challenging, but it’s worth it; you’re worth it. God loves you fiercely.

The verse in 2 Chronicles 16:9 states, “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him” (New International Version (NIV).

According to Bible Study Tools, “God is not passively observing but actively seeking out individuals to support and empower. The verse highlights God’s desire to strengthen those who are sincere and wholehearted in their faith, according to some Bible commentaries. This suggests that God is not looking for perfection, but for genuine devotion.”