Vanity part 3
Filling that emptiness we feel. That's a big part of what we've turned life into, right? Life, liberty, and the PURSUIT of happiness. See, according to that, happiness isn't guaranteed. But the pursuit of it is. Chasing the carrot. The problem is, so many times, we only ever get the stick. Because we try to do it ourselves. We try to fill a God-shaped, love-shaped void with everything and anything else. Which won't work. How could it? What else could fill a God-shaped hole... but God? What else could fill a love-shaped void... but love? The world has us believing that we can (and should) earn our bread by the sweat of our brow. But there is a more excellent way. Look at Romans 15:13, "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost." This, I believe, is one of the keys to the Kingdom. Not filling yourself... but letting God fill you! And then "filling yourself" to overflowing with what you've already been filled with. So here's the question: How do we do that? How do we fill ourselves? By believing. Receiving it and releasing it. Knowing what we have... and using what we have! Giving away what God has given to us. Sharing it. That's how we experience what we've got. And when we're experiencing what we've got... we won't be worried about what we think we haven't got. We won't be focused on the "lack" we will be focused on the abundance. Let me say it like this: When you know (and believe) the truth... you can ignore the lie. It won't mean anything to you. It won't be anything you care about or are interested in. When you are filled up with the good things--the goodness--of God... you won't care about whatever else. You'll count it all as dung. If you have God (and you do, because He has you), you have everything. Everything you need. Everything that could possibly bring you that joy that you're always searching for. The peace that comes from finding what you've been searching for. One more memory verse for tonight: "Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life" (Proverbs 13:12). Like I said earlier, chasing the carrot but only ever getting the stick is awful. It makes you feel hopeless. Like all of your effort is for naught. Like screaming into the void. Or pouring yourself into the black hole. That kind of stuff gets real old real fast. Discouraging. Makes you really understand the definition of insanity--doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Which is why I always say, "If you want something different... do something different. Unless you're building. In which case, stay the course." If you want love... don't demand it. Don't try to earn it, or steal it, or "get" it. If you want to feel love... love someone. Because love IS giving. When you love someone, you are proving (to yourself, at the very least) that you have love to give. The way to believe that you are loved... is to love people. To give what you've got. To give yourself--everything you have and everything you are--to the people around you. It's all vanity... except love. That's the sum total of the whole thing. It's all about love. God loves us, and we love Him back by loving each other!