Astronomers have discovered the largest known void in the universe, which is nearly a billion light-years wide. They estimate 10,000 galaxies could fit in this place of nothingness but within it no planets, no stars, or no galaxies exist. It is empty of both normal matter and dark matter. Everyone could agree that’s a big hole. Yet, a larger void does exist. This void isn’t physical or located out in the universe and is infinite in size. It exists in our spiritual hearts and some call it the God void. In 398 AD, St. Augustine wrote in his Confessions, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” In the seventh century French mathematician, physicist, and theologian Blaise Pascal said, “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.” Pascal realized that life apart from God is empty. He found refuge in Jesus Christ alone.
Many of us have tried filling that void with earthly possessions, accomplishments, education, or adrenaline-rush activities. If you could own the entire earth, bungee jump from Mt. Everest or free dive to the bottom of Mariana Trench, the deepest point in the ocean, the God void would remain empty. He is infinite and nothing finite can satisfy the longing this void creates except the infinite God. Think of all the recent celebrities and prominent people who ‘had it all’ by the world’s standard, yet committed suicide. If any man in history ‘had it all’, it would be King Solomon. His yearly income was $1.5 billion in gold. He wrote Everything I wanted I took-I never said no to myself. I gave in to every impulse, held back nothing . . . Then I took a good look at everything I’d done, looked at all the sweat and hard work. But when I looked, I saw nothing but smoke. Smoke and spitting into the wind. There was nothing to any of it. Nothing (Ecc. 2:10, 11 MSG). Solomon serves as an example of someone trying to fill the God void but all his efforts amounted to nothing. He concluded, when all has been heard: fear God and keep His commandments (12:13).
My wife and I were preparing to move into our new home; I had pasted my exam for the FCC engineering license and just accepted a position as manager of an electronic company; we had achieved the American dream, but I felt so empty. I possessed everything I had ever desired yet something was still missing. One morning driving to my new job, I admitted to myself what I knew all along—it was my God void. In my truck, driving 60 mph, I committed myself to Christ. Instantly, God filled the void. I’ve never felt empty again. Like Pascal, I realized that my life apart from God was empty and as Solomon my efforts, possessions, and accomplishments amounted to nothing.
That begs the question why do people run from God and wait so long when the solution is simple. When I’m hungry, I eat; when I’m thirsty, I drink; and when it’s dark, I turn on the light. So, when our soul is crying out, why don’t we eat the bread of life, drink the living water, and let the light of the world shine into our darkness? Franklin Graham shared “I believed in God. I just didn’t want Jesus running my life. I wanted to run my own life … But I was miserable.” Many fear the Lord will force them do something they don’t want to do. A longtime pastor friend once told me he never wanted to preach but God made him. Even though I was a young Christian I looked at him, “You need to find another career because God never forces us do anything.” My pastor shared a verse that has been a guide since my call into the ministry. For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Phil 2:13). He explained that when God wants us to do something He puts His will in us and works to make it something we want to do.
People may temporarily numb the emptiness with over-work, friends, drugs, alcohol, sports, etc. but when they wake up the next morning, the void is still there. As the well-known maxim declares, you can run but you can’t hide. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence (Psa 139:7)? “Can a man hide himself in hiding places So I do not see him?” declares the Lord (Jer 23:24). If they dig their way down into the underworld, I’ll find them and bring them up. If they climb to the stars, I’ll find them and bring them down (Amos 9:2 MSG).
God loves all humanity, and He paid an incredible price for us through the death of Jesus. God our Savior. . . desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1Ti 2:4). Stop searching in the wrong places. “Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? … Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live” (Isaiah 55:2-3).
Sustaining Word for the Week: Apart from God, you are empty. You can only find satisfaction in Jesus Christ alone. Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come (Isa 55:1 NIV).