Empty and Noisy

 

 I know the saying Empty vessels make more noise. Empty, dry, and purposeless is what we often feel deep inside of us? No doubt we are living in a noisy and dusty world. If not mindful, our minds can easily become dirty and our life seems purposeless. 

One rainy afternoon as I stepped outside my house, I saw an empty water bottle tossed on the road making its squeaking noise as it gets hit by the tires of the cars and trucks. This thought flashed in my mind that it is similar to a life without purpose, empty, wandering on the road of life here and there and not serving its purpose. I pondered on that and asked myself does that resemble my life at this juncture?

A life well lived in the past does not guarantee a life of purpose in the present. Every day needs a reminder of who we are and for what we are made for? Also, every day demands the renewal of our minds to understand our purpose in this life.

We do a lot of stuff every day to keep ourselves awake, busy, and occupied and still, it is possible that we feel empty and hide our emotions behind the carpet of the busyness of work. But God in His wisdom knew our hearts are weak, lonely, crazy, and most often empty.  The noise of our silence within us is bothering and makes us ask why we are living such a life?

Surely our silence is guilty silence before our Holy God. God in His great Love and Mercy sent his only son Lord Jesus to save us from this wretched condition of our hearts and mind to have a right standing with God and experience the plethora of His peace and His grace in our lives. The greatest delight in this life is to have meaning and purpose in knowing that we are adopted into the family of God and called children of God (Eph 1:5).  

The question is do we know this God who is so Merciful, so Loving and All-knowing?

Let our minds be deeply saturated with God and His presence every day to overcome fear and Sin. We need to humbly meet God every day (10-15 mins) with all our load of trouble and heaviness of heart.  It is our individual responsibility to guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Prov 4:24; Ro 12:1-2; 2cor 11:3).

Enjoy God in simple ways for this is the chief end of man in this life!

Who can understand my Loneliness?

The pain of loneliness is true. On the face of life’s disappointments every individual faces loneliness in this life. The emptiness of wondering what lies ahead, and what the future holds is bothering to many of us. The fear that uncertain times and changes in life, children grow, people move, close ones leaves us and loss happens in the business. We feel we are left alone.

The pain of loneliness is no respecter of age, beauty, profession or lifestyle. It can strike a young child at preschool and it can hit the elderly after the loss of a spouse. It can affect the college student, who is new on campus, the graduate who is just starting out in life, the married couple growing apart and the divorcee facing life alone. It affects the rich, poor and it even affects the famous celebrity’s. 

At a conference Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix, offered a purpose statement for his entertainment industry: “Fundamentally, we’re about eliminating loneliness and boredom. That’s what entertainment does."

The entertainment industry expects us to see boredom as bad, which is why advertisers, sponsors, filmmakers, and game-makers collaborate to create shows, movies, and games that will capture our attention and keep us preoccupied. Lot of children and young adults in our nation have taken captive by the gaming industry.

Bunch of young people vent out their boredom and loneliness by consuming alcohol, drugs and many more substance. And few think if they can budge themselves in peer pressure and going to dance party’s they can get rid of this problem.

Bible tells in Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death”. Let us beware of not going in the wrong paths.

Loneliness is a real problem. Some comfort for those in loneliness can come through love of friends and family, a companionship built on commitment to a person’s good. To some extent it can ease the pain of loneliness. But for sure it is not the permanent fix.

A Truly Connected Life

A Truly connected life must not be defined by internet access or phone usage by gluing ourselves to social Medias such as Facebook and Watsapp. It’s the life where we are connected to God and to one another, where we know our real worth is. Saint Augustine of Hippo has said like this “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” 

The antidote for loneliness is close relationship with Jesus Christ. You may ask at this juncture who is He? The best place to start with is reading the Bible and get to know Him personally. As we get to know Him more in our lives, our thinking will be gradually transformed. He gives the inner peace which the world cannot offer to us. His abiding presence in our lives will be suffice to face any kinds of turmoil in life.  Jesus said like this in John 10:10b “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly”.

Jesus Christ can change our hearts and minds if we are letting Him to do that. He works to bring about good things, clear paths, new beginnings, full lives in us. He assures us that we are not alone! Jesus has said “And surely I am (Jesus) with you always, to the very end of the age.” Mat 28:20b (Bible).

Why don’t you TRUST Him and experience the real peace.

Jesus is the answer to the cry of our lonely hearts!