Hi, ya’ll!! Wow, this world is full of distractions, things that are supposed to make us happy or complete; it’s heartbreaking to see what things people think will fill the God size hole in our hearts. Today I just want to go in on fulfillment, what it truly means, and how to find it!
I recently read The Masterpiece and The Bridge to Haven by Francine Rivers (both fantastic reads, highly recommend), and a common theme in both of them is people trying to find fulfillment. They try to feel full from alcohol, drugs, vandalism, sex, and other people, and no matter what they tried, they never found fulfillment. The hard truth is that many of these things will make you feel happy for a short time but end up leaving you more empty than before. That’s not what we were created for; WE WERE CREATED FOR MORE!!
What Fulfills Us?
So, what does fulfill us? Well, I said at the beginning that we are trying to fill a God size hole in our hearts; I believe we are created to bring glory to God. Isaiah 43:7 says, “Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” Our hearts were designed to worship and glorify God, and when we don’t, we try to worship other things to fill that gap.
This world is so broken, and the enemy is everywhere trying to convince us that we don’t need God, that we can feel true happiness and joy elsewhere. It’s hard to wake up to the realization of the lie; we so readily believe that if I just obtain this, I will be full. If I just get that scholarship, if I just drive that car, if I just get that job or just date that person, I can be happy. Even those who know and love the Lord fall into this trap and the truth is that even when we finally get those things, they leave us broken and still wanting more.
Only Through Him
The only way to fulfillment is through God, plain and simple; he is the only one who can fill our hearts and leave us with joy. He created our hearts, so he is the only one who knows our hearts fully and can fill our hearts with his joy and love. Maybe you have never heard that before, or perhaps you’ve heard this a million times before; either way, it’s an important truth.
So where do we go from there? We know we need the Lord, but what does that look like? I want to talk about that a little more. Let’s go!
What Is Your Heart Focused On
The first thing to do is to acknowledge what you are using to fill that gap in your heart. Maybe it’s how well you do in sports, the grades you get, or the friends you hang out with. You may not know you are doing this, or you may have just focused on it for so long you have become numb to it. But when you search your heart and see what your main focuses are, you can more clearly see what needs to change. Write them down as you think of them and be honest with yourself; that’s the only way you can genuinely alter the cycle.
Prayer
Second is prayer; bring your list to him. He already knows your heart and what it is worshipping aside from him, but he tells us to lift everything to him in prayer. Phillippians 4:6 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer with supplication, let your requests be made known to God.” Bring EVERYTHING to him, he knows your heart and your feelings, and he loves you despite your mistakes. So be free in knowing you can bring everything to him!
Break the Cycle
You have to be willing to break the cycle and renew your heart for him; if you are not willing to change, then nothing will. But when we open our hearts to Jesus and what he can do to our hearts, we can truly be fulfilled by his joy and love. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation the old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” When we accept Jesus to fill our hearts, our old self has died, and with it, everything we once held on to or tried to fill our hearts. WE GET TO BE NEW!!
It’s beautiful that even when our hearts are full of worldly pleasures that we think will make us happy, that Jesus doesn’t just leave us there to die. He picks us up out of the pit we dug and makes us new in him.
This Is A Battle
Now I’m not saying that this is all easy because, unfortunately, it’s not. The enemy wants nothing more than for us to fill our hearts with the world and to stay in the pit we have dug. But even though this is a battle for our hearts, the war is already won. He conquered sin and death on the cross, so even when we feel like we can’t keep focused on him, Jesus fights for us.
This also means that we will mess up and fall back into patterns of putting our fulfillment in things other than him. As much as we wish we could keep our hearts and minds on him perfectly all the time, that’s not going to happen because we are sinful and broken people. We live in a fallen world, but thank goodness God knows this and offers us his grace. Because of his grace, we get to have true fulfillment in him!!
Fullness Of Joy
Psalm 16:11 says, “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence, there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Wow, that is an incredible promise, that in His presence, we find the fullness of joy! My hope is that you would realize that you were made for more than what this world offers; that you were made for fellowship with the father and to be fulfilled by him.
I know it can be scary to turn away from this world, and this battle feels like too much to handle. It’s not easy, but friends, it is so BEYOND worth it to feel fulfilled in the presence of the Lord. I hope you know that he calls you his beloved child and that he fully knows and loves you beyond what you can comprehend.
Check out my post on trust! https://livinglifewithgracie.com/trust/ Please, please reach out if you need anything or have questions; I would love to talk!! Love ya’ll!!
-Gracie K
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