Photo Credit: empty-hands__39571.jpg
A gathering of friends and family around a celebratory feast. Giving thanks for all of the blessings of life. Smiles and laughter filling the air. It paints quite a picture. But what if that doesn't look like your life? What if.... you have nothing?
This time of year can be a beautiful reminder of everything that you have.
This time of year can also be a painful reminder of all that you do not have.
So what do we do when the joy of other's fullness collides with a resounding blast into our nothingness?
The desire to hide away and cling tightly with bare hands is tempting; trust me I can relate. When my womb remained empty with secondary infertility and others blossomed with new life, when my loneliness was suffocating while I watched on social media the events I wasn't invited to, when the doctors turned me away with more questions than answers, when my pain limited me to a dark room while my children continued to participate in activities I had to miss out on- it hurt. And as someone who suffers with undiagnosed chronic pain and who lives in a broken world- like we all do- it still hurts.
But through the pain and suffering, our eyes can be open in a new way. It can give us new lenses with which we can recognize others around us who are also hurting. Unlike those whose lives are so full, we more easily notice the barren and outcast. We know what it's like to be missed or overwhelmed with the weight of hollowness. And as the saying goes, "That is not something I would wish on my greatest enemy."
And so, we look. We look up and we look out. First, we look up to the One who stepped down from everything and into nothing in order that we might have everything through Him.
2 Corinthians 8:9 "You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich."
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son. That whoever believes in Him will have eternal life."
The God of the universe loves us so much (Romans 5:8) that He paid our debt as a sinner deserving death (Romans 6:23) in order that we might be reconciled to Him for all time (1 John 2:2, Romans 5:10, John 11:25). Even if we don't have anything else in this life, we can have Him- forever. But we must believe that we are sinners in need of a savior and then we must pledge our loyalty to Him forever so that He will be Lord of our lives. When we do this- we have a hope that cannot be shaken or removed. We now can cling to Him as our rock and source of joy. His love fills in all of those empty spaces and overflows into every area drenching us with His goodness and mercy. A healing balm of Gilead that soothes every ache, every wound.
Revelation 21 "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” "
What an encouraging promise to hold to when it feels like there is no hope. If we are in Christ, we have the perfect hope. The only eternal hope.
Lastly, we need to look out. When we have that perfect eternal promise of healing life we should want to give it generously to those who need it most. Just as if you discovered a cure for cancer that you would want to share with a dying and despairing world, the good new of what Christ has done will give new life to all who believe and receive. What a wonderful gift we can give when our hands are empty.
2 Corinthians 5:17
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,
the new creation has come:
The old has gone, the new is here!”
