A Vacuum in Our Heart- Quote
“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.”
Blaise Pascal
Pascal lived in the 1600’s and was a mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and philosopher. By man’s standards, he would be considered intelligent, but I think this quote shows him as wise. By whatever age he made it, he realized that there was an emptiness in the heart (emotions, thoughts) of every man.
As a young girl who was mostly ignored by the world around her, I made the same discovery by observing all those close to me. In my family and others I found work, money, popularity, boys, drugs, success, household pride, ambition, smoking, alcohol and friendship all being used to help fill that void. None of those things ever really satisfied the people around me, and the happiness they felt just never lasted long enough. Invariably, the emptiness would return and they would move on to try and fill the void again.
As Christians we may not chose some of the ‘bad’ things to fill that void, but there are other things we try to fill it with, and because they are ‘good’ things, we don’t realize we are trying to fill God’s spot with something or someone else. For instance, many young Christians are overly eager to date, get married and raise families. Filled with God first and foremost, relationships are wonderful, but if not… feelings are transitory and can fade, change, grow and regress quickly in human relationships. No matter how much we try to fit someone in God’s spot in our hearts, they will never completely satisfy and so we will still seek out more to fill it.
You will often hear, “I am not happy in this relationship anymore,” as people speak of ending another relationship. The truth is, the person is not happy- period, and that is because God is not filling their heart completing them. Trying to fit other people into God’s spot is a big reason for many divorces, as man fails and can never fully satisfy our emptiness like our God.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God,and his righteousness… Mt. 6:33
And thou shalt love the Lord they God with all thy heart, and with all thry soul, and with all they mind, and with all they strength: this is the first commandment. Mk. 12:30
If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. Lk. 14:26
That last verse sounds harsh until you remember it is the Lord you are to love with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, not your wife, husband or child. God is supposed to fill the vacuum, and only when that happens are we truly free to love unconditionally because we no longer need another human to satisfy us. We will live in our relationships more peacefully when the God of peace fills our hearts in love first.
Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty… Hs. 10:2
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Mt. 6:19-21
When our hearts are divided and we try to fill them up with a little God and a lot of other things, eventually we will become dissatisfied with life. Good or bad things- they are all vanity (Ec. ) and of no profit to us in the end. We will still feel empty. If God is our treasure and fills our hearts completely, we are free to love, laugh and live with all the abundance He gives (Jh. ).
Lord Jesus, come fill our hearts completely… with You!