“Samson was now very much thirsty, and he cried out to the Lord, “You have accomplished this great victory by the strength of your servant, Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of these Pagans?” So God caused water to gush out of a hollow in the group at Lehi, and Samson was received as he drank. Then he named the place “The Spring of the One Who Cried Out.” and still it is in Lehi to this day. Samson judged Israel for twenty years during the period when the Philistines dominated the land.
Judges 16:18-20
I had another article in mind to end the Navigating Relationships Article Series, but God is taking this in another direction. Last week, I talked about how important healing is to all of our relationships. Today, I want to continue that conversation because I feel as though there is one more thing the Lord wants me to address about healing.
A year ago, I watched a sermon preached by Sarah Jakes Roberts called “The Hollow Place” and it impacted my life so much. I was going through so much internally, and as I was listening to her, I knew her words were her last resort. I felt so far away from the Lord, and every other sermon I watched left me numb. I had just finished my first year of college and I did so much, but for some reason, I was thirsty. For a year, I killed myself trying to quench my thirst with more accomplishments, but I was only fulfilled temporarily. At the end of my freshman year, after accomplishing so much on the outside, on the inside I was empty. I found myself questioning everything that I’ve ever known about God. As the summer months progressed, my relationship with the Lord went from being shallow and superficial to having depth and authenticity.
That was the summer my relationship with the Lord changed forever, and yet recently, that empty feeling returned, but this time it was different. This week, I felt a block in my spirit, for some reason, I didn’t feel as connected to God as I usually do. I was aware of His presence throughout my daily life, I was spending time with Him daily, but I still felt empty. However, with the semester in full swing, work tasks looming over my head, Gracefully Broken projects to put in motion, and relationships to tend to, I was able to distract myself from that empty feeling. The block was still there, but I did everything I could to keep myself from addressing it.
One night, a friend of mine who also happens to be my roommate, came into my room on fire about what the Lord had been speaking to her through the week. The excitement in her eyes, the expression in her voice, the passion she had for learning more and more about the Lord, I recognized that. At a time, I felt like that, and as she left my room excited to continue spending time with Jesus I asked myself, “what happened to that feeling?” Insecurity, shame, and defeat filled my body and I no longer could distract myself from the emptiness that I was experiencing. At that moment, the Lord allowed me to sit with myself and face everything I was running from.
The truth is, there are hollow places within me that I’ve tried to fill with everything else but God. My insecurity, anxiety, and past hurts are finding their way into this new season of my life, and through that realization, the Lord showed me something. He showed me that He cannot take me any further in my purpose unless I let Him fill my hollow places. God revealed to me that my insecurity will destroy every blessing He has for me if I don’t let Him address it. I needed to make a commitment to heal for real, no matter how ugly it got. Regardless of what truths He reveals to me, I needed to stop distracting myself with external success, so I could be whole for real this time.
This week was a hard one for me because the Lord revealed some difficult truths about my past. He showed me that the hurt I experienced in past friendships is still affecting all my relationships today. The walls I put up to protect myself from getting hurt, are the same ones that are suffocating me. I had a completely different article topic ready to post today, but I believe there is a reason the Lord shifted my focus.
We can’t move forward in purpose and grow in relationships if we don’t take the healing process seriously. We can try to put on an act for everyone else, but God sees through our masks. To heal effectively, we have to heal authentically, and that takes addressing the hollow places in our lives. I will be the first to admit that even though every week I write about topics that touch so many believers, I don’t have it all together. I have hollow places that the Lord isn’t finished addressing. So I want to encourage anyone who is distracting themselves from authentically healing with the Lord.
The only way God knows how to heal is through depth, and He can’t complete this process until we open up and let Him into our emptiness. God can’t bless who we pretend to be, and He can only take us so far with our masks on. All of the topics I wrote about throughout this series are so important to having a successful relationship. However, the key to navigating healthy relationships is addressing The Hollow Place. Your degree can’t fill your Hollow Place, social media can’t fill your Hollow Place, your friends cannot fill your Hollow Place, your significant other cannot fill your Hollow Place, your family cannot fill your Hollow Place, the harsh reality is. nothing can fill your Hollow Place but God.
Our emptiness does not define who we are, but it can be the very source of our calling. If we don’t address it, we will miss out on the people God has positioned for our stories to influence. The core of a healthy individual is the Hollow Place that they let God turn into a Holy Place.
Xoxo,
Girl with Grace
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