A new songwriter on the contemporary music scene pens these words,
I've had just enough of the spotlight, where it burns bright, to see how it gets in my blood. I've tasted my share of the sweet life and the wild ride and found a little is not quite enough. I know how I can stray and how fast my heart can change. Empty me of the selfishness inside--every vain ambition and the poison of my pride and any foolish thing my heart holds to...Lord empty me, of me, so I can be filled with you. Every thing is a lesser thing, a lesser thing compared to you, to you.
You do not have to be famous, not a rock star, a grocery market tabloid photo spectacle or a presidential hopeful to want success for yourself. You do not have to be in the news, a headliner, an author, a religious leader or a person with some notoriety. You do not have to be "someone who has made it" to strongly desire significance. Bob Dylan wrote a song, "You Gotta Serve Somebody". In this song (great song, by the way) Dylan says everyone eventually serves someone. You either sell out and serve the world in self promoting ways or you put to death attention getting devices (which only brings attention to the person) and serve the world in God honoring ways. What does the songwriter mean when they say, "I've had enough of the spotlight to know it is not enough?" This songwriter has come to know the world's symbols of success can result in profound emptiness. I have been in the homes of a hand full of famous people (from sports hall of fame celebrities, white house advisors and television stars) who have told me they too go home after their day to empty houses (and some for some, to family or roommates) only to discover how meaningless their lives had become. Some tried to change, most did not....(sad memories right now). Thousands of years ago an ancient writer penned these words, "Oh God, my heart is restless until it rests in you."
Right now I ask myself, "Looking at just the outside how can a person have so much going for themselves and yet feel so empty and out of control?" With the songwriter in the above mentioned lyrics (Thanks Kris for adding it to the playlist!) I too have come to know "how fast my heart can change". Really important point coming next....it is very possible to NOT even realize that my heart has become cold, hard and divided. (These three words describing the heart are all found in the bible).
I want to offer an interpretation of emptiness that you may not want to read, here goes...Emptiness is God's tool to get us to a place where we can be full of him. If a person is full of themselves they cannot be filled with all that God wants to deposit in them. As long as a person is full of themselves they cannot be filled with God. I have counseled many people who decided to turn away from life threatening self destructive behaviors. I have asked many of them, "What do you attribute the success of your recovery to?" Nearly all of them has said, "I hit my bottom". That is to say, they allowed God to empty them, of them. In addition, they worked hard and did not give up.
In Psalm 42 we read, "I long for streams of water (water is symbolic for the provision of God)...day and night (this speaks of endurance and perseverance) I have only tears as my food (this speaks of emotional pain)...my enemies (the reality of being misunderstood by others) taunt me... I feel as though you (God) have forgotten me..my heart breaks... but my hope will be in God". This is not the only place in the bible that paints a picture of a "hard to find God" that has seemingly forgotten his people when they needed God the most. Jesus from the cross (his place of abandonment and pain) questioned God as he cried out, "Why have you forsaken me?" Psalm 42 does not end with the empty searcher finding God! So, is God some celestial sicko who places a desire within us to find him but God does not allow us to find him? How twisted would that be?! The only thing more troubling to me than a "hard to find God" is a "community of believers" who say they have found God but are quick to keep a record of a person's wrong doings (see 1 Cor. 13.5).
This is what I am driving toward, emptiness should be something a Christian should seek (ouch!). Meaningful emptiness, godly emptiness, takes place in the very same way ancient wineskins were made. When early travelers needed a container to hold drink for a long journey they often killed (or put to death) several animals. After the death of the animals, the animals were "gutted"--all that was not useful for the purpose of the container was removed. The skin was then dried out over a fire (fire is a symbol for God). After the drying was complete the skin was then further prepared by "oiling" the skin (oil is another symbol for God). The skin needed to be made supple through the application of the oil so the skin could be molded into a useful shape with other prepared skins.
When a person initially experiences emptiness they can feel like they are being put to death--they are! Further, a person who is in the process of being emptied by God feels as though God has "burned them". God is burning them but, with a cleansing fire. At just the right time God will oil the person, bring healing to the person. God will sew this "oiled" person together with other people (who are also willng to be 'shaped') and have been through a similar deathlike experiences. Finally, God will fill the empty person with God's Spirit. Yes, God does want us empty. Yes, God does want to fill us. And yes, God wants to pour you out to a very thirsty world. This has got to be the longest piece I've written yet. If you finished, thank you! By the way and here is a surprise for you, the songwriter I referenced at the beginning of the article...American Idol finalist Chris Sligh, the playlist song is, Empty Me--ENJOY!!!!
I want to offer an interpretation of emptiness that you may not want to read, here goes...Emptiness is God's tool to get us to a place where we can be full of him. If a person is full of themselves they cannot be filled with all that God wants to deposit in them. As long as a person is full of themselves they cannot be filled with God. I have counseled many people who decided to turn away from life threatening self destructive behaviors. I have asked many of them, "What do you attribute the success of your recovery to?" Nearly all of them has said, "I hit my bottom". That is to say, they allowed God to empty them, of them. In addition, they worked hard and did not give up.
In Psalm 42 we read, "I long for streams of water (water is symbolic for the provision of God)...day and night (this speaks of endurance and perseverance) I have only tears as my food (this speaks of emotional pain)...my enemies (the reality of being misunderstood by others) taunt me... I feel as though you (God) have forgotten me..my heart breaks... but my hope will be in God". This is not the only place in the bible that paints a picture of a "hard to find God" that has seemingly forgotten his people when they needed God the most. Jesus from the cross (his place of abandonment and pain) questioned God as he cried out, "Why have you forsaken me?" Psalm 42 does not end with the empty searcher finding God! So, is God some celestial sicko who places a desire within us to find him but God does not allow us to find him? How twisted would that be?! The only thing more troubling to me than a "hard to find God" is a "community of believers" who say they have found God but are quick to keep a record of a person's wrong doings (see 1 Cor. 13.5).
This is what I am driving toward, emptiness should be something a Christian should seek (ouch!). Meaningful emptiness, godly emptiness, takes place in the very same way ancient wineskins were made. When early travelers needed a container to hold drink for a long journey they often killed (or put to death) several animals. After the death of the animals, the animals were "gutted"--all that was not useful for the purpose of the container was removed. The skin was then dried out over a fire (fire is a symbol for God). After the drying was complete the skin was then further prepared by "oiling" the skin (oil is another symbol for God). The skin needed to be made supple through the application of the oil so the skin could be molded into a useful shape with other prepared skins.
When a person initially experiences emptiness they can feel like they are being put to death--they are! Further, a person who is in the process of being emptied by God feels as though God has "burned them". God is burning them but, with a cleansing fire. At just the right time God will oil the person, bring healing to the person. God will sew this "oiled" person together with other people (who are also willng to be 'shaped') and have been through a similar deathlike experiences. Finally, God will fill the empty person with God's Spirit. Yes, God does want us empty. Yes, God does want to fill us. And yes, God wants to pour you out to a very thirsty world. This has got to be the longest piece I've written yet. If you finished, thank you! By the way and here is a surprise for you, the songwriter I referenced at the beginning of the article...American Idol finalist Chris Sligh, the playlist song is, Empty Me--ENJOY!!!!
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