In my 29 years on this planet we call Earth, I have learned quite a bit—enough to fill plenty of books, journals, and Microsoft Word documents (though there is so much more for me to know!). And yet, in all my knowledge, I have discovered that there is only one thing that truly matters: to know Him.
Without God, I know nothing and am nothing. Without Love Himself penetrating my every being, I am just a clanging cymbal making noise. Acts 17:28 tells us, “For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, for we are also his offspring.”
We do so much on this earth that we think is important. We have 9-to-5 jobs to provide for our families and move up the career ladder—to do more, to make more, to be more. We spend our money on the pleasures of this world—taking multiple trips and vacations with friends and family, buying the latest car, subscribing to all the channels, enrolling our children to the top school in the district, planning weddings that cost thousands of dollars—and getting into debt for most of it. We put our hopes and our dreams into our spouses and our children. We volunteer for multiple ministries at church and volunteer endlessly in our community. We even go on mission trips after mission trips across the world to make a difference in people’s lives—and yet forget about it all when we come back home.
These things have us wrapped around their little finger. We revolve around ourselves—our pleasures, desires, wants, hopes, and dreams. Unless we are making a name for ourselves, we don’t feel like we’re enough. If people aren’t praising our efforts, we feel like a failure.
Am I poking anybody out there? Well, here’s the thing, I’m poking myself, too. I have been in these places. Gosh, if I were to be completely honest, I still struggle with some of this. I struggle with being content. I struggle with being grateful for what I have and where I am in the current season that I’m in. I struggle with turning to other things in this world to fill the void.
Have you felt it too? The ache in the middle of the night. The loneliness that creeps in, even when you’re in a room full of people. The emptiness that threatens to swallow you whole after an evening of binge eating, doom scrolling, or wading through a to-do list a mile high.
When I was a young adult (well, younger than I am now), I struggled with this emptiness that led me to go shopping repeatedly. At this time, I didn’t know that I was trying to fill a void. I just knew I was restless and shopping made me feel good for a few hours. Even though I was walking with the Lord, this restlessness would fill me every few months, so I would take an evening to “myself” and have some fun in the city. I would shop for new clothes and treat myself to coffee and dinner. I often didn’t return until late into the night, with bags full of stuff. When the adrenaline wore off, I would lie in bed and still feel the emptiness. I didn’t understand it. I didn’t know how to fill the void. There is a quote from the movie Confessions of a Shopaholic that I could relate with, when the main character, Rebecca Bloomwood, says, “When I shop, the world gets better, and the world is better…but than it’s not, and I need to do it again.”
Then one day, when this restlessness hit again and I was tempted to go on my shopping debacle, I felt the Lord break through with a passage from Isaiah 55, “Invitation to the Thirsty.” If you haven’t read this passage before, I highly recommend it!
“Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and you will delight in the richest of fare.
Give ear and come to me;
listen, that you may live.”
~Isaiah 55:1-3
As I read these words, tears began to cascade down my face. I now knew what I was missing. I knew why shopping, food, and nights to myself to feed pleasure had never satisfied me. I needed to run to Jesus. He was the only one who could fill and satisfy me when the emptiness and restlessness hit. Everything else was fool’s gold and only elevated my need for Jesus.
King Solomon knew what that was like. As a rich and wise king, he had everything—literally! He had all the money, all the fame, all the women, a fountain of knowledge and wisdom, and a name famous among the nations. He only had to ring a bell, and a servant came running. He had it all.
And yet, he struggled with the void. How do we know this? Because he wrote about it in the book of Ecclesiastes. After years of serving pleasure and being led astray by beautiful women, he gives us the secret to the emptiness in his soul, “When all has been heard, the end of the matter is: fear God and keep his commandments, for this applies to every person” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).
Solomon was the wisest person who ever lived but only in the end did he finally get it. Fear God. That’s all that matters. (A side note: Fearing God doesn’t mean being afraid of Him. In this context, it means to be in awe and reverence of Him.) The secret isn’t a secret at all. It is penned over and over again in God’s Word: Fear the Lord. Worship Him. Love Him with all our minds, souls, and strength. God gives us purpose, joy, and contentment. Everything else is like “chasing the wind”, as King Solomon puts it. Here today and gone tomorrow.
After the Lord revealed the root of my shopping excursions, I began to turn to God to fill my empty places and gaps instead of draining my bank account. He began to reveal deeper places in my heart that needed healing. I started to enjoy a more intimate relationship with “the One whom my soul loves” (Song of Solomon 3:4). I discovered the void reflected an area of my life that needed filling—such as connection with the Lord, time with my family and close friends, or even walking in the purpose that God had prepared for me.
Do you feel restless? Is there an area of your life that feels empty and hollow? Do you find yourself filling it with things that don’t seem to refresh or recharge you? When you feel that ache in your soul, turn to the One who will drench you with His love, overflow you with His goodness, and replenish what was stolen from you. God has good, good things in store for you. Psalm 16:1 promises us: “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
