The God Sized Hole Within Us
We live in the most affluent society in human history. We have smartphones, smart cars, smart watches, one day online delivery, high speed connection, and so much more. Put simply, there is so much stuff-nice stuff! So, why is everyone so miserable?
The short answer is so many of us have traded worship of God for worship of stuff. Now, nice things aren’t bad. But, they’re not God either. They’re just stuff. In Matthew Kelly’s book, Resisting Happiness, he writes that all human beings have a God sized hole within us. Because God is an infinite being, only an eternal thing could fill that eternal hole within us. We need our eternal God to fill that hole.
Imagine a big black hole in the ground that goes forever. If you throw an iPhone in it, the hole will remain unfilled. All material things have a beginning and an end. All technology breaks. But, God is eternal. He’s an unchangeable, immovable, indestructible, all merciful, all just, all loving, infinite being. He will never break. He will never fail you. He is more reliable than any piece of technology that Apple could create. If through prayer and receiving the sacraments you accept God into your life, you will experience the self-fulfillment he created you for. He created you for himself.
The great Saint Augustine begins his autobiography with these simple words to God: “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” This means we can only experience the peace of God when we surrender our lives to Him. Trading the things of this world for the things of God isn’t always easy because we have unhealthy attachments to stuff. So, surrender is a process. And, we can only surrender ourselves to God if God gives us the grace to do so. But don’t worry for even a second because all we must do is ask God to receive the grace to surrender. Remember Christ’s words: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matthew 7:7).
Fill yourself with God, not stuff. You’re heavenly Father has so much to give you. But, He can’t give you heavenly gifts to hold if your arms are filled carrying worldly things. Make some space for God in your life by carrying less from this world and more from the next.
