“For in him we live and move and have our being.” -Acts 17:28
We all live with a “gap” in our lives, leading us on an endless search for fulfillment in hopes that this will lead to a whole and more productive life. We try to fill this gap in several ways and not necessarily in wrong or sinful ways. The gap may be experienced differently depending on the different stages in our life. Sometimes the gap is wide and leads to periods of unrest. We may feel hopeless, anxious, and overwhelmed with life. When it is smaller, we may only experience small bits of frustration or a sense of annoyance with life and its circumstances.
No matter how broad or narrow the gap, we will try to fill it with someone or something. We may consider a career change, a move across the county, or even a new relationship to help fill what is missing. Again, these decisions are not wrong or sinful choices. Often a fresh start, a new adventure, or a budding relationship are good gifts from the Father. James 1:17 states, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” Yet, we must caution ourselves in thinking that even the good gifts from our Father can close the gap we experience in our lives. Children are a wonderful gift from God, yet children cannot make a person whole. We place too much pressure on our children when we expect their presence to fix our marriage, self-esteem, or circumstances. A new career can certainly be a gift from God and bring great joy into our lives, yet what we “do” can’t fix who we are and fill what’s missing.
I can’t speak for everyone, but personally, I believe the gaps we feel in our lives are genuine. We can spend a lot of time trying to fill them in various ways. The anxiety and pressure we experience often come from our attempts to fill in what we are missing. We attempt to fill the void with what we buy, what we eat, what we do, and how we do it. We spend our money, time, and resources trying to fill the gaps. Jesus spoke very tenderly and vividly about the anxiety and pressure of life in the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5-7. Read His words from Matthew 6:25-31,
Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
When I read these words from my Lord, I say to myself, “Yes! That’s the life I want!” A worry-free life where I am not running around trying to fill my life with stuff. Yet, I spend a lot of my life trying to fill the gap with all the things Jesus talks about in this passage. What I eat, drink, wear, and other things tug at my heart as I consume my way through life. Again, this list is not evil or unwholesome in any way. Jesus acknowledges in verse 32 of this passage that “your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.” But life often becomes the pursuit of these things as we try to fill the gaps in our lives that we experience each day.
Not long ago, I had a breakthrough. I experienced these gaps and the restlessness they would bring, but I could never name what I was experiencing. The breakthrough happened when I could finally name the gap—a gospel gap. What is a gospel gap? It is the space between peace and restlessness, between being known and rejected, between knowing who you are and constantly questioning your identity and worth. Even as believers, we can experience a gospel gap. The gospel is more than the good news of Christ that renders salvation when we place our faith in the man Jesus; but it’s also no less. John Piper explains how many Christians experience the gospel each day. He says, “For many, Christianity has become the grinding out of general doctrinal laws from collections of biblical facts. But childlike wonder and awe have died. The scenery and poetry and music of the majesty of God have dried up like a forgotten peach in the back of the refrigerator.” Piper describes how I feel when I forget the beauty of the gospel and relegate it to a prayer, I prayed when I was young. When I don’t see the majesty of God in the gospel of Jesus, I will run to anything I believe will fill the gap at that moment. Once I experienced this breakthrough, it opened up my calling. Now, my personal calling in life can be defined by the following words, “I am called to help people fill the gospel gap they experience each day where they live, work, and play.”
Paul wrote in Acts 17 that we live, move, and have our being in Him—Jesus. Over the next three months, we will examine how we can close the gospel gap we experience where we live, work, and play. Because the gospel of Christ is enough for our lives!
Great points, Pastor Kevin!