by Kevin Burton
There is a God-shaped vacuum inside each person’s heart, said the French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and writer. Blaise Pascal.
Try to fill that vacuum with something, anything other than God, and life will suck. If that seems false to you in the moment, it will prove true in the end.
If you don’t embrace that philosophy up front, nevertheless it will emerge, in your quiet moments when all your media is turned off, if you are intellectually honest with yourself.
This is just the way it is friends.
Keith Green said this musically in his song “Run to the End of the Highway.” The idea being that whatever your pastime or sensation, movement or pursuit, if it’s not centered in God, you’re wasting your time and your life.
“Well, you can run to the end of the highway
And not find what you’re looking for
No, it won’t make your troubles disappear
And you can search to the end of the highway
And come back no better than before
To find yourself you’ve got to start right here.”
Here is Pascal’s exact quote, reported by goodreads.com:
“There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of each man which cannot be satisfied by any created thing but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ.”
Your “eureka” moment in other words, is in Jesus Christ and none other.
“You were made for God, and nothing else will ever truly satisfy,” reads a message from In Touch Ministries, which was founded by Dr. Charles Stanley.
But the news of the world is filled with accounts of people seeking fulfillment and meaning elsewhere, and the trouble they get into by doing that.
By Old Testament standards, the book of Ecclesiastes is a short one. In it, Israel’s King Solomon tells of the diversions he tried and how they failed to satisfy.
“The “God-shaped hole” concept states that every person has a void in his soul/spirit/life that can only be filled by God,” reads a passage on the website http://www.gotquestions.org.
“The problem, though, is that humanity ignores this hole or attempts to fill it with things other than God. Jeremiah 17:9 describes the condition of our hearts: “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”
“Solomon reiterates the same concept: “The hearts of men, moreover, are full of evil and there is madness in their hearts while they live…” (Ecclesiastes 9:3). The New Testament concurs: “The sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so” (Romans 8:7). “
“Romans 1:18-22 describes humanity ignoring what can be known about God, including presumably the “God-shaped hole,” and instead worshiping anything and everything other than God.”
“Without God at the center of our life, we can find ourselves drifting,” the In Touch message reads. “We hunger for something to fill the emptiness inside but may not recognize that only the Lord can truly satisfy that longing.”
“In our search for meaning, we often turn to other things—money, success, relationships, achievements—hoping they’ll provide the fulfillment we seek. We pour our passion, time, and energy into these pursuits. Yet nothing this world offers can fully satisfy our soul.”
“The beautiful truth is that our heavenly Father desires a relationship with us. He loved us so much that He gave His own Son to make this possible (John 3:16). The door stands open.”
“Look around at the evidence of God’s presence—in creation’s beauty, in moments of unexpected kindness, in the persistent sense that there’s something more. He’s inviting you into intimate friendship with Him.”
“If you’ve put off responding to His invitation, consider what you might be missing. A relationship with God offers peace, purpose, and joy beyond anything we can imagine,” writes In Touch.
“And better still, He’s waiting with open arms.”
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” (Rev. 3:20 NASB).
Please speak to and fill our hearts, Lord.
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