THE EMPTY PLACE


                            By Carol Pearson






          I put  down my Bible, rested my heavy head in my hands and sighed
     deeply.  "Oh Lord," I said, "I'm  here again with such a heavy heart."
     Tears  began to  fall down my cheeks.   I remained still, but for  the
     tears, for some  time.  I couldn't believe that I felt  so much pain a
     whole year after my  "best friend" had left.  He surely was one of the
     finest dogs I'd ever  known.  His ability to give  such "unconditional
     love," with much feeling  and  often accompanied by  physical acts all
     of his own,  set him in a  "special  place" for  me - and now  a whole
     year had passed by  and I was still missing  him really  badly.  I let
     the  pain touch me again.  "Yes, that  was all I had  left, really, as
     it far outweighed  those happy memories at this time for   me."  (That
     is how Satan got me to think.)

          I felt the  Holy Spirit feeling  about in my pain, communing with
     me, and gently asking, "How is it you  feel?"  That one word, "Empty",
     was about  all I  could  find to  say.   Here  was   the  Lord's  next
     question, "Would you like me to heal that pain for you?"

          Yes,  of  course  I  would   but,  again  my  mind  reasoned,  on
     reflection, all I had  left  now was that "empty feeling" of pain.   I
     said , "If you take this,  Lord,  I'll have nothing left of him."  Oh,
     how human I was feeling and  I knew I didn't know how to make the next
     move.  (He hadn't said anything at  all about taking something from me
     anyway.)  I  realized later that I had  in  fact made the  move when I
     responded, "Yes, I want you to heal me of this  pain".   Of course, He
     knew this  full well!  I just  had to leave things at   that point and
     wait to see what God would do.

          Two or  three more  sad days passed  and then  He spoke.   When I
     heard His voice  , there was no doubt for me.  It was truly His voice.
     His Word, as always,  came simply and truthfully to my heart.  I had a
     wonderful picture.   There  was  an empty chair  beside me.   Here, in
     that setting, was that  lovely  question from the one  Who loves me so
     very much that He longs to  fill all  those painful places:   He said,
     simply,  "May I  fill that  empty place?"   Oh,  how  long I  had been
     waiting to have that place filled, and if I had  asked, He truly would
     have  filled it;  but I had  not come to Him in  my pain  and need and
     asked Him to  do this.  Now  I did so gladly!   The light of  His Word
     came quickly to me, as though new for the first time,  though this was
     not so much a "new" experience for me but something I needed   to know
     again, and again, and again.   Yes, I needed to let Him fill  up every
     little space  which was empty.  That word,  spoken through Paul, is so
     very  apt,  when he  wrote to  the Ephesians, "Be  (or literally,  "be
     being") filled  with the  Holy Spirit.  We  need His filling in  every
     part of us!  This is so very  important for us to do, because it shows
     a vital truth:  If   we have an empty place in our lives, because of a
     loss such as the one I  have described, or even because we have thrown
     off some sin which has  hindered  us in our daily walk with the  Lord,
     but do  not allow Him to fill  us  up with Himself  then the very need
     that caused us to feel and do whatever we  did in the first place will
     remain a need of ours  and again we will fill it   with something that
     may well be  worse than any original  sin.  In my  case I  had  lost a
     friend and the  enjoyment and happiness he  brought to my life.   That
     was a  gift of God to me,  not a sin, but when I  no longer had my dog
     then I  needed that place filling.   The only one who  could fill that
     place is  Jesus Himself.   He has to become  everything to us that  we
     need and be   welcomed by  us to continue to  fill every place  of our
     being.  Let us not try to hold on even to a memory that God would heal
     for  us.  Satan  would trick us  into thinking we cannot  give up that
     very last thing  because that is all  we have.  That just is not true!
     We have "all" when we  have Jesus filling every part of  us!  There is
     no lack as we receive from   Him but a plentiful supply!  That  supply
     is to fill us every moment, every  day, whatever the situation!


     Carol Pearson 
     August 2007


                               End Of Document

     Safe Place Fellowship
     Phil Scovell
     Denver, Colorado - Mountain Time Zone
     Phone:  303-507-5175
     Web:  WWW.SafePlaceFellowship.COM
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