14.May.2009 Filling the Gap

Isaiah 44:6b:
“I am the First and the Last;
there is no other God.

Ephesians 5:23b:
For a husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of his body, the church.

Jesus is the first and the last, the Christ and the Savior; he is the Head of the church. He is the one and only God. Since the beginning of time, mankind has struggled with the idea that there is only one God. It is hard to find contentment in that fact. Humans do not like the idea of relinquishing control to this one God for fear of His nature and plan. What if He doesn’t truly have the best interest for me? What if His plans for my life and not the same as my plans for my life? These are difficult fears to face.

You see, we need to seek God in order to get to know Him; only through getting to know Him are these fear assuaged. Seeking Him is hard to do, and more often than not, humanity decides to create a new god that does not require as much from us. We desire to have control of our lives, so we substitute God with a more vague “higher power” that does not ask us to submit our lives to it. With this higher power, we can make up our own rules and justify our own behaviors. We seek to replace God with something easier to control.

As a result of this new creation, we begin to fill the void left in our hearts with things. You see, there is a place in each of our lives that only God can fill, and yet, we as humans, try our hardest to fill that void with stuff: new homes, new relationships, addictions, etc…And we do not find contentment, so we add something new. A new addiction. A new self-help program. A new higher power. But no matter what we do, our lives remain empty, and our lives will continue to be empty until we learn to submit to God.

The issue of submitting to the One true God dates back to the Garden. Adam and Eve were created by God and placed in paradise. They worked hard every day serving Him. We should never forget who it is we are serving when we serve in the House. We are not serving a man; we are serving God. Adam and Eve worked hard; working hard helps to distract the mind. There is contentment found in completing a hard day’s work. One day, Eve is not working and her mind begins to wonder. She talks to the snake and begins down the thought path that leads her to her fall. She knows she is not supposed to eat the fruit, but the thought of being like God is too enticing. She is not content with submitting; she wants to be in control. So, she eats the fruit. And then, she runs to Adam and has him eat it. The rest is history.

When we sin, we immediately pull people in to justify our reasons. Eve immediately pulled in Adam. We want to believe we are not sinning; we want to make the rules of submitting in our lives. And the void continues to ache within as we try to fill it with stuff. But, just like Adam and Even after eating the apple, we become disillusioned after we get what we thought we wanted. Suddenly the new man is not so charming. Suddenly the new house is not so perfect. Suddenly this new god is not so pleasing. And then, we are left at the beginning, trying to figure out what will sustain us.

Submitting to the one true God is the key. God is the one God; Christ is the Head of the Church. Only He can fill that aching void in our lives and teach us the joys of submitting. Women find contentment in submitting to their husbands; man find contentment in submitting to authority; and humanity finds peace in submitting to God. When we submit to God, we allow ourselves to be surrounded by a community of faith that lifts us up and strengthens us to do far more than we could have done as one person or as a husband and wife pairing. When we allow for God to fill the gap, life becomes full of endless possibilities.