we all search for something to fill our voids, but Christ alone can satisfy
Friday, April 6, 2012
Untitled
Tonight is one of those nights where I feel lonely. and sad. and overwhelmed. and stressed. and tired. Combined, they don't equate to a very pretty equation. Life is a lot to handle, and I've been having trouble finding the purpose in it all, lately. This week I've felt quite distant from my Lord, and I know that it's because I haven't been pressing into Him, spending time with Him. And I know that the reason I feel like life is kind of pointless is because I haven't been finding my purpose in the only One who is worth living for. It's the cycle I find myself falling into again, and again. I am thankful for grace, that covers me even when I don't understand it. I am praying for a renewed desire to find my strength and purpose in the Lord, for the flame to be fanned within my soul. I'm praying for perseverance to keep going, even when I feel like hiding somewhere and never coming out. I'm praying for strength and purpose.
I'm feeling rather restless myself and having the same sense of...emptiness brought on by wear and tear.
The important thing is that you are aware of it. Too many people are this way and they fail to realize it or even worse, they actively deny it.
This is a situation where my beliefs start to noticeably diverge. I personally feel that the divine strength you go to the Lord for actually comes from within ourselves. It's something we bring out rather than something that is provided by an outside force.
God (and I use God in a poetic sense) has given us everything we ever need. We already have it. The real challenge is brushing away all the noise and haze that makes us lose sight of what really matters; the junk and garbage that makes us lose sight of ourselves.
We are all going to have our downs; it's inevitable. It's a sign that we still have much to learn. Pay close attention to your feelings, try to understand why things leave you drained. Don't stay there of course, and the same applies to the happy moments. How many times have good things gone awry because we just couldn't bring ourselves to let them go? or accept that they were impermanent?
I cant say I know you very well Meaghan. Yet, the fragment of you that I have learned about through your writing has told me so much. You're a kind, loving, and amazingly passionate person. A person who has a story to tell; someone who has endured the metaphorical hells life sometimes throws at us. Yet through it all you came out as wise and as refined as the way you are :)
Though our motivations are different, the end result is the same: we want to truly enjoy our lives and unravel its meaning, while spreading our care to everyone around us and helping them too, achieve that beautiful state of enlightenment.
I think it is definitely healthy to be aware of the emptiness we feel inside of us, the longing for something more. I actually believe that God (in the literal sense;) put that longing for something more within us, and it is a yearning that only He can fulfill through a relationship with Christ. I reference s scripture here: Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end." I believe the longing and emptiness that I sometimes feel, and am aware of others having felt, is our innate desire for eternity.
I find your views and beliefs very intriguing, and I am so appreciative of you being willing to read about mine and share yours in return! However, my belief is that we cannot look within ourselves for that divine strength, only to the One who created us and is all powerful and all loving. If I have this longing for something more that is unfulfilled within me, how can I expect to look within me (where I'm empty!) for the answer to be solved?
I've put a considerable amount of thinking of whether or not to believe in God as some kind of supreme, omnipotent being. I'm still not fully convinced either way. With that said I definitely do not believe in God as portrayed in any religious scriptures.
I really do not think it matters tho. Not with the way I have come to accept things. In any religion, you will find absolutely amazing and loving people, along with the extremists that use it to justify war and violence. The exact same can be said for those without a faith. If a benevolent nature is independent of faith, then what do all those loving, selfless people have in common? what makes them so?
I'm too far into committed to science to believe things like "god made us in his image". It's for that reason that I've been drawn to Buddhism. All it asks for is to "view things for what they are" while loving myself. That's all it really takes. I've discussed this with Courtney and there are a tremendous amount of similarities between Buddhism and Christianity.
The main difference is the lack of deities or stories. There is no worship, no angels, no devils. Everything we do, everything we choose, everything we feel, originates from within us. Any self-loving person who takes a step back to view the world, while casting aside his ego will naturally just...be kind and loving to everyone around him; friend or foe. I find that absolutely beautiful. Why? Because that person did it completely on his/her own, and without some sort of obligation to a God or other person. It really breaks my heart when others believe non-religious people are inherently immoral.
It's an issue of being aware, truly AWARE, while overcoming our instinctive, biologically programmed desires. It is no simple feat to get there, but it is a goal worth reaching for.
When everything is said and done... It's all just a matter of perspective. No two people have the exact same route to "enlightenment". I strongly believe what I just mentioned is my way. Your path is through your Lord, and I am in complete support of it. It's one of the many reasons I am following this blog :)
I'm feeling rather restless myself and having the same sense of...emptiness brought on by wear and tear.
ReplyDeleteThe important thing is that you are aware of it. Too many people are this way and they fail to realize it or even worse, they actively deny it.
This is a situation where my beliefs start to noticeably diverge. I personally feel that the divine strength you go to the Lord for actually comes from within ourselves. It's something we bring out rather than something that is provided by an outside force.
God (and I use God in a poetic sense) has given us everything we ever need. We already have it. The real challenge is brushing away all the noise and haze that makes us lose sight of what really matters; the junk and garbage that makes us lose sight of ourselves.
We are all going to have our downs; it's inevitable. It's a sign that we still have much to learn. Pay close attention to your feelings, try to understand why things leave you drained. Don't stay there of course, and the same applies to the happy moments. How many times have good things gone awry because we just couldn't bring ourselves to let them go? or accept that they were impermanent?
I cant say I know you very well Meaghan. Yet, the fragment of you that I have learned about through your writing has told me so much. You're a kind, loving, and amazingly passionate person. A person who has a story to tell; someone who has endured the metaphorical hells life sometimes throws at us. Yet through it all you came out as wise and as refined as the way you are :)
Though our motivations are different, the end result is the same: we want to truly enjoy our lives and unravel its meaning, while spreading our care to everyone around us and helping them too, achieve that beautiful state of enlightenment.
I think it is definitely healthy to be aware of the emptiness we feel inside of us, the longing for something more. I actually believe that God (in the literal sense;) put that longing for something more within us, and it is a yearning that only He can fulfill through a relationship with Christ. I reference s scripture here: Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end." I believe the longing and emptiness that I sometimes feel, and am aware of others having felt, is our innate desire for eternity.
ReplyDeleteI find your views and beliefs very intriguing, and I am so appreciative of you being willing to read about mine and share yours in return! However, my belief is that we cannot look within ourselves for that divine strength, only to the One who created us and is all powerful and all loving. If I have this longing for something more that is unfulfilled within me, how can I expect to look within me (where I'm empty!) for the answer to be solved?
I've put a considerable amount of thinking of whether or not to believe in God as some kind of supreme, omnipotent being. I'm still not fully convinced either way. With that said I definitely do not believe in God as portrayed in any religious scriptures.
ReplyDeleteI really do not think it matters tho. Not with the way I have come to accept things. In any religion, you will find absolutely amazing and loving people, along with the extremists that use it to justify war and violence. The exact same can be said for those without a faith. If a benevolent nature is independent of faith, then what do all those loving, selfless people have in common? what makes them so?
I'm too far into committed to science to believe things like "god made us in his image". It's for that reason that I've been drawn to Buddhism. All it asks for is to "view things for what they are" while loving myself. That's all it really takes. I've discussed this with Courtney and there are a tremendous amount of similarities between Buddhism and Christianity.
The main difference is the lack of deities or stories. There is no worship, no angels, no devils. Everything we do, everything we choose, everything we feel, originates from within us. Any self-loving person who takes a step back to view the world, while casting aside his ego will naturally just...be kind and loving to everyone around him; friend or foe. I find that absolutely beautiful. Why? Because that person did it completely on his/her own, and without some sort of obligation to a God or other person. It really breaks my heart when others believe non-religious people are inherently immoral.
It's an issue of being aware, truly AWARE, while overcoming our instinctive, biologically programmed desires. It is no simple feat to get there, but it is a goal worth reaching for.
When everything is said and done... It's all just a matter of perspective. No two people have the exact same route to "enlightenment". I strongly believe what I just mentioned is my way. Your path is through your Lord, and I am in complete support of it. It's one of the many reasons I am following this blog :)
I forgot to ask. Could you elaborate more on "our innate desire for eternity."?
ReplyDeleteI will respond to your comment (which I did read:) and elaborate a little later in the week when I have more time! :)
ReplyDelete