Half full or Half empty

Time has a way of slipping through our fingers without us even recognizing it has passed us by. We can fritter away time easier than anything else. To fritter means to allow something to slip away little by little, almost like the sands seeping through the hourglass. Frittering something away is not like a glass slipping from our hand and shattering on the ground because we had wet hands when we tried to hold it. In this case, we were unprepared to hold the glass securely, so it slipped and we were fully conscious of it slipping. To fritter a glass out of your hand is kind of like dozing off with a glass of water in your hand, then slowly, little by little, the glass tips ever so slightly. Then it tips a little more, and a little more. Then in the next short passage of time, the glass lays on its side, contents flowing freely from it. We can remain asleep, unaware of the contents being spilled, or the condition of our "hand" which actually "relaxed" its grip and allowed the spillage to occur. Frittering happens - most of the time completely unnoticed by us.

A life frittered away disgusts God; he loves those who run straight for the finish line. (Proverbs 15:9)

The key difference between the two events described above is awareness. In the first circumstance, we were aware the glass was slipping, but could do little to stop it simply because we weren't well prepared when we picked up the glass. In the latter, we were neither aware, nor attentive. Life and time come at us this way sometimes. There are things that life seems to ensure will get put on "our agenda" for the day - some we know about, others we don't. I work in the healthcare arena, so my "agenda" is constantly being altered by the immediate demands of the "urgent" or "emergent". As aware as I am of what needs to be done for the day, some "agendas" have to be placed aside for the more urgent needs of another - the glass slips from my hand because I was not prepared for the next demand. 

I may lose control of my "agenda" for a period of time, but I still remain very aware of what requires my attention when I can get back on track. I have learned the "urgent" may cause things to slip out of my control for a while, but in short order, I will get back on track, because I have prepared for the "urgent". You see, I work "ahead" a little in many of my tasks, so I don't see them slip from my hands when the "urgent" comes my way. As a matter of fact, I am writing this blog post about seven days in advance of it being posted. Slippage is pretty much assured at some point in life, but I don't have to be unprepared for it! Neither do you! There have been times when things seem to be running rather "smoothly" - times like this almost set us up to do some "frittering". It is not that I am lazy, but when there are no "urgent" or "emergent" things demanding my attention, it is easy to change my pace to a slower, less hectic pace for completion of my agenda.  For most of us, we'd rather have the latter, but we all know it is not always the best for us. We are actually doing more harm when we fritter away our time, talent, or treasure, aren't we? God made each of us with both the ability to experience the "adrenaline rush" of the "urgent" and to enjoy the "peacefulness" of the routine - one really doesn't exist without the other.

If we are always operating in the mode of "frittering away", we are really operating in the arena of becoming less and less alert to our surroundings. In time, we become less alert to the things we'd normally pay close attention to, such as the glass of water in our hand! In so doing, we allow things to slip away - they get poured out, or wasted. This may not be a big deal if the "glass" contained only water, but if the "glass" contained something more significant, such as deep purple grape juice, you might be more than a little concerned when you finally realized what you'd allowed by your "frittering". Now, think of your "glass" as filled with relationships, talents, and treasures. We fritter away our relationships, neglecting them little by little until one day our 'relationship' glass is empty. Sadly, we never realized the "spillage" over time, but nonetheless, it occurred. If our glass is filled with talents and treasures, the slippage may leave us feeling empty, unfulfilled and a little remorseful over the loss. Either way, we realize the impact of our "frittering" way too late! Let's be the kind of people who are alert to the tendency we have to "fritter away" what we may not want to find ourselves without when all is said and done! I guarantee you, today's attentiveness to your "glass" will make all the difference with tomorrow's supply within the "glass"! Just sayin!

New answers

Desperation is a condition in which hope has faded and what is left is a deep sense of hopelessness, a compounded by a sense of just wanting to give up on it all. These are the times when we are just crying out to God, "Hey, are you listening here???" It is our heartfelt plea for God to answer us because we need help and help seems to be escaping us. There are times I think God has allowed me to get to the place of extreme desperation - of not feeling like I could go any further. He allowed it! He put me in a place where I came smack-dab face-to-face with the inability of my own talent, inadequacy of my own strength, or insufficiency of my own resources in order that he might become my all-in-all. When we get to the place we are relying on our talent, strength, or resources in an exclusive manner, God sometimes needs to put us in the place where we will realize how futile that self-focus really can be.

I call out at the top of my lungs, "God! Answer! I'll do whatever you say." I called to you, "Save me so I can carry out all your instructions." I was up before sunrise, crying for help, hoping for a word from you. I stayed awake all night, prayerfully pondering your promise. In your love, listen to me; in your justice, God, keep me alive. (Psalm 119:145-149 The Message)

Up before sunrise, awake into the wee hours of the night, crying for God to listen to our plight - sound familiar to anyone? A plight is often viewed as anything we interpret as an "unfavorable" state. It could be a relationship that has tanked despite things we have done to keep it alive, a financial situation revealing a negative balance more frequently than a positive one, or some emotional struggle within which we find ourselves more often than not wallowing along, but not doing a very good job at 'managing it' at all. Take another look at the meaning of 'plight' and you will observe it is an old world term used to describe the pledging of oneself with the intention of the pledge being as binding as a contract. When we are calling out to God with our cries for him to just answer us, we are making reference to the "bond" we have with him without even knowing it! We are relying on the "contract" or "covenant"! Not a literal piece of paper that binds two parties, but the bond that exists because God first loved us, sought us out as his own, and then entered into a relationship of permanence with us - the kind of 'permanence' many of us have a hard time understanding today.

The relationship may become a little devoid of all the enthusiasm and delight once in a while, but nonetheless, his commitment to us is as permanent as his Word. Nothing can sever us from his constant care. If a void exists, it is our doing, not his. Empty spaces create a sense of emptiness - emptiness only becomes the basis of a lack of hope (desperation). Whenever we create a culture within any relationship which allows for empty spaces, we are open to the feelings of hopelessness that follow. Relationships are meant to be 'filled spaces' - we give too much room for empty ones and there is bound to be failure. God's desire for us in our relationship with him is a total lack of empty spaces! He wants to fill us to overflowing, leaving no space for any sense of doubt, frustration, worry, or fear to enter in. His desire for us in our human relationships with those he places in our lives is this same lack of empty spaces! We need to be attentive to those things we allow to create emptiness within our lives. It takes only one moved pebble in a rainstorm to begin to cut the course for a raging river!

If you find yourself feeling a little empty today, you may not be entirely alone here. It is likely that you are sensing it in a bigger than life way. The relationship you work on first is the one you have with Jesus. In your emptiness, don't cry out for deliverance! Cry out for filling. It is in the filling of the empty spaces that our despair will be dealt its final blow! As all emptiness in our spirit begins to be filled with the presence and power of Jesus, we find there are things we can do to deal with the emptiness in those other relationships. It is like we find new answers! Just sayin!

Man, I am on empty!

Have you ever blurted out to someone that you were 'starving' - perhaps having been delayed in having your lunch, or not being able to grab breakfast before your day took a huge swing into overdrive? When was the last time you said this about your soul - admitting to God that you have waited too long to take nourishment from his Word, or have been waiting for what you think is too long to receive some desired answer from him related to something that has wearied your soul? The moment we recognize our desire is the moment we look for it to be satisfied, isn't it? When it comes to our God's care and love, we don't have to starve, but we do have to have an appetite!

God won't starve an honest soul, but he frustrates the appetites of the wicked. (Proverbs 10:3)

God won't starve an honest soul - the thought provokes us to consider what it is to "starve". What is it that Solomon could have been referring to when he spoke of the "starvation" of a soul? First, let me say that starvation is more than the effects of a lack of food in the natural sense. There are many forms of starvation - emotional, spiritual, intellectual, and the kind that depletes the body of oxygen or energy, to name but a few. I think we'd do well to consider the idea of starvation in light of the spiritual sense. God does not let his kids suffer from spiritual poverty or need. He delights in meeting the needs of our hungry souls and the desires of our seeking hearts. God does not delight in seeing us crave more of him and then sit back while we "suffer" through that craving. In fact, it is that craving that he rewards - he immediately moves to see that craving fulfilled. The fulfillment of the craving for more of God's love, his grace, or his character created within us moves his heart into action.

God won't starve an honest soul - the thought of an "honest soul" gives us some indication that there may be times when we "play games" with God about the desires of our soul. I know this to be true in my life, so I am pretty well convinced that others play these "games" spiritually, as well. Let me just say that we often "say" we want more of God in our lives - but the intention of seeing that fulfilled is really not there. We half-way commit, by our own will-power, hoping to make some change in our lives that we see as making it possible for us to realize more of God's grace in our lives. The fact is that we cannot do anything to "make God" move in our lives. What God responds to is the honesty of our need. He responds to sincerity - not manipulative attempts to get him to do anything. Sometimes we think we can manipulate God to do what it is that we desire. Let me assure you that God is not moved by our manipulation - he is only moved by our honest estimation of our need and our sincere cries for more of him.

He frustrates the appetites of the wicked - we often wonder why we experience frustrations in our spiritual life. We might do well to examine our motives in approaching God with what we present as our "needs". He might be waiting until we are truly honest with him - in the meantime, we experience the frustration of waiting for his answer that seems to be delayed in coming our way. I am not saying we are "WICKED" in our approach to God, but we are not being honest about the intentions of our heart, mind, will, and emotions. We have things we are trying not to deal with - things God has clearly said we do need to deal with and we just haven't been obedient to his requests. God's delays create much frustration for us. Sometimes his delays are because of our own doing. He is waiting for us to come to a place of total honesty with him. At other times, he knows that the answer needs to be delayed simply because our heart, mind, will, and emotions are not prepared to receive what he has for us. Regardless of the delay, we experience frustration. That is a response to us perceiving that God is delaying something that we think we need, or that he is simply not listening - and we are 'starving'. The fact is....he always hears! He may delay simply because we need the time for that hunger to fully take hold!

So, let's learn to be honest with God in our needs. Come straight out and let him know where we are sensing our need right now. He will clarify if that need has a deeper source - if there is a hunger that goes much deeper than we are realizing. We need to trust him to respond to our honesty. I know we may find that foreign in our relationships - but with him, it is a prerequisite to having our needs met! The first step is recognizing our hunger, while the next steps may just be making ourselves available to receive what we need to fulfill that hunger! Just sayin!

A fresh canvas is art

4 An empty stable stays clean—but there is no income from an empty stable. (Proverbs 14:4 TLB)

An empty stable stays clean, just as an empty house might remain neat and with things in order. An empty bottle doesn't really serve the purpose for which it was created, nor does an empty heart! Another 'empty' to consider is that of a canvas stretched tightly upon the frame. The frame gives it a 'form', yet the canvas is still just 'empty' until the artist takes up the brush and begins to add brush stroke after brush stroke of color to that 'void'. An empty canvas is rarely seen as 'empty' in the eyes of the artist - simply because he knows all the ways it is to be filled.

There are times we believe 'empty' is a bad thing, but if you actually stop to think about it, 'empty' defines the object as 'not full', not that it isn't open to being filled. The canvas might be nothing more than canvas until it stretched tight upon the frame, but once it is stretched upon the frame, it is now open to being filled. Yet, it is not quite ready - it must be 'primed' to receive that which the artist will add. The artist needs to 'prime' the canvas with a substance known as 'gesso' - a substance which actually helps 'hold' the paint that will be added to the canvas onto that canvas.

Did you know you could add 'gesso' to almost any surface, even vinyl, rubber, etc., and it would help hold paint to that surface? It acts as an 'adherent' when it is applied to that surface. There are also two grades to gesso - one is much stronger and actually helps that which is painted upon that surface to remain true in both color and texture. There is much prep which goes into making the canvas ready to receive the artist's touch - it isn't as simple as just unrolling a little canvas. The frame must be put into place, the canvas stretched and held into place, and then there must be the placement of that which helps what will come next to actually 'stick'!

Maybe then empty isn't really empty! The canvas isn't truly empty - it is ready! The work of 'receiving' that which will be added by the artist actually begins when the artist conceives the canvas - bringing together the parts that will make the canvas in the first place. Who could add to the canvas any better than the one who conceived it in the first place? If you are feeling a little 'empty' these days, perhaps it is just that God has been at work bringing together the pieces and priming the canvas of your life! In his mind, he sees what he will add next - even when all we see is 'empty'. Just sayin!