Hole-ly Living

First published in The Daily Sentinel, Friday, Feb. 22, 2008

Meet Craig. He’s got a good job that earns a decent income. He has a lovely wife and two kids – one boy and one girl. Their home is cozy without feeling cramped. His truck is relatively new and has no mechanical problems. He has an active social life – good friends who know how to have a good time without getting into trouble.

From the outside, Craig’s life looks pretty nice. But on the inside, Craig is hurting. Although he loves his wife, he doesn’t really know how to demonstrate it to her. He often feels isolated, even when he’s with his friends. While he enjoys his kids, he doesn’t really know them. His job doesn’t satisfy him; it only pays the bills. In short, Craig is missing something, but he doesn’t know what it is.

Sports seem like a good way to fill the void, so Craig plays softball in the spring and summer, racquetball and basketball in the fall and winter. He lifts weights twice a week. His body lost the flabbiness it had accumulated since high school, and he looks really good in the mirror. But he still feels something missing. There is no joy in sports.

Craig likes the outdoors, so he fishes and hunts, goes camping and hiking. Sometimes he takes the family along; sometimes he goes with his friends, sometimes alone. But as much as he enjoys it while he’s doing it, the emptiness remains.

Craig’s tried just about everything he can think of to fill that void. He’s run up the credit cards buying stuff that looked good in the store, but didn’t do much for him when he got it home. And the worst part is that Craig feels like no one else recognizes his emptiness.

Does Craig’s story sound familiar? It does to me. Change a few details, and Craig’s story could be my story. His story could be yours. Craig is facing a dilemma that rings true for so many of us today, but this dilemma is as old as the Bible.

“I thought in my heart, ‘Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.’ But that proved to be meaningless. 'Laughter,’ I said, ‘is foolish. And what does pleasure accomplish?' I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly--my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives. I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well--the delights of the heart of man. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.”

Those words are attributed to Solomon, king over Israel during its most glorious days in history, from the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes 2:1-11. Solomon, with all he had going for him, still felt empty. As he said, “everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”

So how can we be filled? Is there hope for Solomon and Craig … me … and you?

“Every person has a ‘God-sized hole’ inside.” I don’t know who first said that, but I agree. Craig’s emptiness, Solomon’s emptiness, yours and mine … this is the proof of that God-sized hole. And the only thing that can fill a God-sized hole is GOD!

E. Stanley Jones, a Methodist missionary to India in the mid-20^th century, wrote about how the “God-sized hole” in us is filled – in Christ: “The phrase ‘in Christ’ is the ultimate phrase in the Christian faith, for it locates us in a person – the Divine person – and it locates us in Him here and now. It brings us to the ultimate relationship – ‘IN.’ Obviously this ‘in’ brings us nearer than ‘near Christ,’ ‘following Christ,’ ‘believing in Christ,’ or even ‘committed to Christ.’ You cannot go further or deeper than ‘in.’”

Jesus Christ: the great hole-filler! I pray that Craig will fill himself in Christ. And I pray that for you, too.