The world is full and bursting at the seams. It is full of knowledge, full of fear, full of wonder, full of conflict, full of beauty and also full of neatly nip tucked controversies on how we should think about and live our lives. Though we have improved from the experiences of our forefathers there are still ways in which our 21st century world cannot match its fullness in one thing to the emptiness in another.
We fund new self-destruct technologies and subscribe to constantly negative news. There is endless anxiety over random dangers to our lives while genuine love is at an all time low and more of us are being romanced by drugs and projecting false realities on social media. The world is full but our hearts are empty cups that need a filling which surpasses our human capacity.
Empty vessels make the most noise
With all the time we spend on entertainment it’s sad that it has lost a certain depth. It’s not so much that it’s not popular or enjoyable, but that it’s loud and trendy one week but tasteless the next. There are no more Kcee & Jojo’s to talk about all their lives having prayed for someone like you, no more Backstreet Boys to show you the shape of their heart, no more Boyz II Men to show you the colour of love and no more Stings to say how fragile we are.
Our generation is just on a different tangent of consciousness and though we have some good artists out there, they are certainly fewer than before. It makes me wonder if Cyndi Lauper wasn’t onto something with time after time because Whitney Houston found what she would say if the Lord asked her what she did with her life. Joan Osborne asked what if God was one of us and we couldn’t help but wonder what it would mean if He were a hungry soul on the street corner, a sickly fellow on a hospital bed or a naked wanderer with no shelter. Do we still ask questions with our music or do we create well coordinated instructions to tune out?
Vessels full of wrong substance also make noise
I remember a time when somehow being a Christian had made me a perfect person and not a thing I could say or do was wrong. I had presumed to be someone of great knowledge and wisdom so the idea that I was still lost was far from me. I couldn’t figure out how I had fallen so fast asleep at the wheel of my life that I had crashed into a wall of depression. Hadn’t I started out well by giving my life? In so doing hadn’t I dodged that notorious teacher called, experience? My cup was full and brimming over with my own substance but not the substance that God intended.
It was all about me but not about the part I had played in landing here, so I went about with a chip on my shoulder bulldozing those who were apparently less spiritual than I but also taking a beating from those stronger and more manipulative than I. I soon learned that there is no one size fits all approach for what lays ahead in your Christian walk. Do not despair when you make mistakes, God is infinitely purposeful and will inevitably place you exactly where you need to be and where your life and character will make the most impact on others.
He is fullness for your empty cup
It is not God who is made in our image but we who are made in His. We have drawn our own human conclusions about Him and so we will never fully understand what it means to Him for us to come with cups empty and in need of His love as they are. We always thought He would be impressed the more we appeared to have it all figured out without Him but somewhere along the line we forgot that it was He who chose us before we chose Him. He said to come to Him weak and heavy laden so that He can give us rest. He is an infinite supply for our empty cups.
