In my life I have followed a wandering road.
running where fickle winds blew.
But today, Father,
show me the path I must take
to walk ever closer to you.
Do you ever feel empty – like there’s nothing in you anymore? I think that sometimes we all feel that way, especially as we age.
Today I want to look at that feeling – that feeling of emptiness, in a different way. I believe that being empty is not always a bad thing.
When we are empty handed, God’s hands fill all our needs.
When we can’t even do the little things, we may find God doing everything.
When we don’t have the strength to move, God will hold us up.
When our hearts and lives feel empty our loving Savior will fill those empty places with His Spirit.
So, Being empty is not always a bad thing.
Maybe we need to empty ourselves – to get rid of the idea that we can handle everything without God’s help. We struggle to solve life’s problems, but resting on God’s goodness and love is really what we need to do.
Much of the time we have the idea that we can do life on our own. Maybe when we realize that we don’t have the answer to the troubles that haunt us and realize that our storehouse is pretty empty, then we can open our hearts and minds to what God wants us to know. Then He will fill us.
When you think you’re in control, you become so full of yourself that there is no room for God to come into your heart and fill you.
In the Bible, John 4 tells us about a woman at the well. Jesus asked her for a drink of water, and she asked him why He, a Jewish man, would ask her, a Samaritan woman, for water.
This is what John writes.
Jesus answered her. “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? . . . “
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water (in the well) will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Jesus told us that we never need to be empty. He will become our spring of water welling up to eternal life. As we fill our minds with the knowledge of our Savior, as we trust in Him to provide love, and friendship, comfort, direction, strength, and peace, we will feel the warmth of His unfailing care and we will be filled.
Empty is when there is nothing left but God and you discover that He is all you need.
An elaborate tapestry is in the process of creation. Day after day and year after year the threads
are woven, hiding the fibers that hold them in place. The hands of our people hold the shuttle, as
life goes on in our mountain home and the picture in the tapestry comes alive.
Yes, each person who lives here or has ties to our small
community contributes to its beauty with the threads of his or her own life.
The colors of those threads are determined by a person’s hopes and dreams. The texture comes from deep within their souls. As she weaves, one person may use a vibrant green,
a color which shows her concern and love for nature, for the wonder of all
things created by the hands of God.
Another may weave with soft threads of blue, showing a
desire for tranquility and peace within his heart and with his neighbor. Only a few will use a gold thread, expensive,
rare and shining, bright with happiness and a desire to see the good in life
and in people. Or maybe you will bring
us red, the color of fire and might.
Did you notice that we all hold some black threads in our hands? These threads will outline and add shadow to
the picture on the tapestry. These
threads are sadness, concern, and yes, sometimes even anger. The beauty of the picture requires darkness to
highlight the colors as well.
A life of true beauty is difficult to achieve, so although
each person may hold several colors in his hands, he will never be able to
supply all that is needed alone.
So my friend, look around you. Look at your neighbor - the person walking beside
you. See what color and texture they
bring to the picture. Look at yourself,
what colors are in your hand? What
textures reveal your soul?
And then - Pick up your threads and weave!
My friends let's rely on the Holy Spirit, the Voice of God, to help us work out the design, and then we can weave! I've found the tapestry is even more beautiful when the hands of the Master Weaver are in charge!
Dear Friends, Recently, I was up in the middle of the night and thinking about the fact that it was so dark, when this verse came to my mind.
Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Psalm 119:105 (KJV)
It’s so easy these days to stumble, or to run into things (or people) if I’m not paying close attention. The days of just assuming that the sidewalk is smooth, or there is no curb in front of me, or that the slope of a drive is just a slope and not a step – those days are no more. I must pay attention.
But there is another thing that requires my attention in a more powerful way. God’s Word, the Bible, It is the lamp – the light.
I once heard the story of a missionary who, in returning from
years overseas, discovered that there was nobody at the dock to meet him. He complained a little bit to God, saying
that others were greeted with great enthusiasm, but he was given no welcome
home. But soon he recognized a still
small voice in his heart saying, “But son, you aren’t home yet.”
So where is your home?
You may have lived in the same city, state, or house for many years, or
even all your life. But do you ever get
the feeling that you’re not really at home?
Almost every one of us feels that way at some time.
I wonder why? Could
it be that deep in our souls we know that we’re not created for this world, but
for the next? Could it be that we know
there is somewhere that the wonderful welcome home awaits us.
That
word “home” says “comfort, safety, belonging, welcome.”
Heaven is my home and home is a shelter, a warm place, a
place of comfort in the arms of God.
Psalm 84:3 says, Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow builds
her nest and raises her young at a place near your altar, O Lord of Heaven’s
Armies, my King and my God!
Won’t it be
exciting when we have a place near our God, the Lord of Heaven’s armies, the
King.
Hebrews 11 tells us about faith, about the confidence that God’s followers
had in what was to come. From Able, to Noah, to Abraham, to Moses, to Rahab,
and all those in between. They had faith in a heavenly homeland promised
by God.
Jesus
told his disciples,
“If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” John 14:3
We will have comfort, safety, and we will be welcomed. We will be with Jesus. We will belong!
“May you always have walls for the winds, a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire, laughter to cheer you, those you love near you, and all your heart may desire. May joy and peace surround you, contentment latch your door, and happiness be with you now, and bless you evermore.” – Irish Blessing