"Nature will not permit a vacuum. It will be filled with something. Human need is really a great spiritual vacuum which God seeks to fill..." George Washington Carver

We are all daily employed in filling the vacuums of human need. It drives us to fill our stomachs with food and drink, to fill our world with relationships, and our minds with a steady stream of information.

We seem compelled to continually fill the envelope of our time. We say we long for time to do nothing, and yet the vacuum must be filled and alas, if we are not doing every minute, we believe we are wasting that commodity. How about drawers, pockets and purses? They never stay empty for long, no matter how often we purge them. They refill seemingly without our assistance!

We cannot tolerate a half-filled cup of coffee or tea. On the road, if we spot an open space up ahead, we maneuver our vehicle to fill it. Flower beds, bookshelves, cabinets and those empty spaces deep within us, all seem to call out to be filled. On and on it goes. What needs or desires in your life are you seeking to fulfill? What spaces are you longing to fill?

It is very interesting however that filling is often not enough. It seems we frequently approach the state of true satisfaction only when we experience abundance, overflow. It is in our nature not only to desire simple satisfaction, the simple gratification of desires and appetites, ful-fill-ment, but then to desire the next step - overflow. Perhaps because we have all experienced deep lack, gaping holes, in our lives, we feel we need the extra security of over-fill.

Empty spaces are often referred to as aching voids. Ponder that term for a moment - it is rich in meaning. If you have ever had a tooth pulled and experienced the painful condition called dry-socket, you can fully grasp the meaning of the expression. Nature will not permit a vacuum. Consequently, the vacuum state is an exceedingly uncomfortable one at best - it is the state of being un-ful-filled.

Vessels want filling and we are all vessels, which explains our nature as desirous beings. Desire is simply a longing to be filled in one area or another. A synonym for desire is craving, which really takes it to the next level of desire. Craving is an overpowering drive, often moving one to actions they would not consider under normal circumstances.

Why does it seem we are never satisfied, always seeking over-filling, over-abundance, excess? Michael Taber of the Philosophy and Religious Studies department of St. Mary's College, Maryland suggests that "the loss of engagement constituted by the loss of pursuit can be saddening."1 Simply put, perhaps we derive our real satisfaction from the pursuit itself and when we are actually filled is when we become dissatisfied and begin the process of engaging once again in the pursuit.

Can you see how this two-edged sword is the beginning of a cycle of misery which takes us to what James says about desire in his letter? This cycle leads to lust, which is nothing more than sickened, unhealthy desire.

And what do we provide ourselves through our pursuits? Could it be that the "food" we are supplying ourselves, being temporal food, is not of the stick to your ribs variety? And why do we feel we must provide for our needs when the Bible gives us a better way? James 4 has some simple, pointed truths which point us to the answer.

"You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives so that you may spend it on your own pleasures (lit. wickedly)." James 4:2b,3

Too often, we go to the world to fill our empty spaces and then fall into the trap of friendship with the world which James identifies as hostility toward God (James 4:4). The Bible calls this adultery! That may sound way too strong, but it is what God has to say about it.

What's the answer?

"Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil a nd he will flee from you. Draw near to God a nd He will draw near to you." James 4:7, 8

His word is always a promise and His word declares if we draw near to God, He will surely draw near to us (James 4:8). Any time you are in the presence of God you will be filled. Note that the Bible tells us this is something we must do ourselves. God will not do this part for us. So often we turn it around and expect this of God, busying ourselves with what God has said He will do for us.

"If you then, though you are evil, now how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" Luke 11:13 (NAS)

This then is the filling that truly satisfies, nourishes, heals and empowers and that connects to the Father, then to the aching world, bringing ever increasing fulfillment.

Steep your mind in the Word of God, renewing it to the only real and lasting satisfaction. Renew and make complete your whole self, spirit, soul and body (1 Thessalonians 5:23) by means of regular fellowship with your heavenly Father in prayer, praise and worship. As Psalm 46:10 exhorts, make time to be still and know Him. It is the only true fulfillment and it is what you were created for.

"Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever." Westminster Larger Catechism

You will reap immeasurably greater benefits, with eternal significance, in quietly allowing yourself to be filled than in all your chasing around to fill yourself.