The Gap-Filler

Ever had a draining day… a wearing week… a month of longings?

I have a feeling that most of you reading are women in your grown-up years, like me.  We might be surrounded by friends or family, or coworkers or fellow students, daily. But that doesn’t mean we won’t feel a Gap every now and then.  (If you’re not part of that population, read on still, you’re welcome here too.)

He put it there, this longing deep within, to draw us to Himself, the Lover of our souls.

C.S. Lewis said it this way: “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”

There is an ache that none can satisfy, except for Him. So He brought His otherworldly love and crawled into our skin. He walked among us, among our aches and our longings, and felt many of them Himself. He’s not immune to our pain, He’s not a stranger to our suffering, and He’s not surprised by our sorrow. He is the Friend of sinners, the One who weeps when we weep, the One who carried our burden. He is our Savior, and He is Jesus, the Gap-Filler.

 

When we’re single and lonely, or married and frustrated…
There is One who gives Perfect Love (see link to post at end of page)

When we lose a friend, or we just wish for a few more…
There is a Friend who is closer than a brother. (Prov 18:24)

When we’re lacking in family love, even when we’re longing for parental love…
Though my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will never leave me. (Psalm 27:10)

When we wonder if we can do this, this loving the ones who mean the most…
He gives us everything we need for life and godliness. (2 Peter 1:3)

When we’re physically exhausted, emotionally weak, or spiritually drained…
There is a Healer. (Isaiah 42:7)

In short, when we are weak…
He is strong. (2 Cor 12:9)

 

You see, no matter what gaps we feel, He really is Enough:

 

Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
Psalm 73:23-36

 

Dear Reader, I wish I could tell you that these words, this encouragement, came from a place of Trust, a place of Perfect Peace. The place I should be in the knowledge of my Savior’s great love. But they don’t. More often than not, they come from a place of tears cried into the quiet, when I find a moment that I don’t have to hold it all together and I can let it all fall apart at His feet.  And He hears, He listens. He is there.

Yes, I wish I could tell you that these words came easy. But they’re fought for, wrestled over, cried through. And I know…

Sometimes things don’t go our way and we just can’t trust. Or prayers go unanswered too long and we just can’t be patient.

Sometimes we just can’t.

But He always IS.

The good news is… when we can’t trust… He is still good. When we can’t feel His love… He is still loving. When we can’t understand… He is still in control. You see, even when the Gap we feel is faith itself… He is still there to fill it.

Friends, let’s be encouraged today not to give in to fear, but to remember what He’s promised. “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isa 41:10).

I don’t know what gaps you’re feeling today. But I know that He does… He knows you, He knows what you need, and He knows how to take care of you.

Trusting Him to fill the gaps together,

 

Laura Jane

 

Perfect Love