The God-Shaped Vacuum -- Part 1

Dear TEAMS,

In the Fall of 2011, I was a keynote speaker at our church’s Ladies’ Retreat.  I spoke about the God-Shaped hole, and how that related to addiction, and brought in my personal experience with food addiction.  This and the following posts are this same talk with minimal modifications. 

A attended the retreat and said it’s what she’s heard her whole life.  May you find this information as familiar.  And may you decide every day to allow Father to fill you when you are empty, instead of with all the earthly stuff you rely on.  Because you all have addictions as well.

Love, 

It is wonderful to be up here talking to you tonight.   I need to tell you that I am humbled to be up here, because I have been at [our church] for over 17 years now, and I know there are people in this room who have lived the concept I am going to share a lot longer than I have.  I have learned so much from all of you here, even if I haven’t told you.  I stand in the back a lot during worship, and I wish you all could see the things I see spiritually over you—ALL of you!  Be assured, Ladies, that God is raising you up to even greater things that you can imagine, and that He is seeing all of the little things you do in secret. 

Usually most speakers start out with a funny story, and I wanted to share one relating to my humanness.  Nancy wrote me this wonderful note this week—I bet all of you know her handwriting and look forward to those little rectangles in the mail—and I opened it and was reading it to [Daddy].  At the end of it, she wrote, “I am so looking forward to God’s ministry through you this weekend.  Love, Nancy”  I sighed and rolled my eyes and said, “Whew!  No pressure!”  Darryl looked at me lovingly, walked over with his encouraging eyes, patted me on the shoulder, and said, “You’re right, Honey.  The whole success of the entire weekend sits squarely on your shoulders.”

Well, thankfully, that opened my eyes a little bit to letting God work instead of me.  I am blessed that I can share with you because I really do view you all as my sisters.  You see, I live my life to be more intimate with God every day.  It is the sole thing that drives me, over and above my commitment to my husband or raising successful, godly adults with my children—even though those are significant driving forces in my life.  But there is no one in my extended blood family who shares that passion or motivation, and in fact, I am subject to ridicule, judgment, disrespect, and speculation by certain members of my “blood” family.  Some of you in this room are in the same boat as I am. 

 But if you are not, imagine what it is like for me that on any given Sunday, the fellowship I have with you during coffee break is significantly deeper than anything I have with my own blood family.  Knowing what goes on during coffee break sometimes, I imagine that might make you laugh.  Still, I hope that helps you understand the bond I have with you, in that no matter what our backgrounds, life experiences, or even certain interpretations of Bible passages, I know that we share a common bond and appreciation for the only thing that matters in life.  I am truly comforted by that, and count it as one of my main blessings in life.

More in the next post...