The God Shaped Hole

My last blog post was about the human soul desperately searching for something, not knowing what we need to fill this desperate longing with something of this Earth. Ephesians chapter 4 says, “Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.” It’s not addictions, material things, work, or any kind of human relationship. Ephesians chapter 4 says, “Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.” Carolyn Moore says this longing, this search for something is like homesickness, that we were made for something we are trying to get back to. 

While at Bible Study yesterday talking with my small group, my friends again blessed me with some amazing insight. I quickly wrote down these three thoughts that they shared:

• We are created with this God shaped hole. We are made to want to look for God.
• Our souls thirsts for God.
• We don’t know what we don’t know….

Later, as we watched the video and I looked in the book to find the illustrations and tables being referred to, these two passages popped out at me from the pages of our book, As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. Psalm 42. and Does your soul thirst for God?

Now get this! After Bible Study, my friend, Mary, gave me a water bottle that said, “… he that believeth on e shall never thirst.” John 6:35. What a wonderful God Thing!!! I just love it when He sends these little messages to meJ

When I got home yesterday the first thing I did was Google “God shaped hole.” I was expecting to find some more references and details about this concept. What I did not expect to find were images. As a very highly visual person, I was immediately drawn to these images, which then lead me to more information.

Inside each of us is a "God-shaped hole"--a place inside of our hearts that only God can fill. If we try to put anything else in there, it won't fit. It won't fill the need we have inside of our soul.

I learned that the concept is biblical: John 7:37-39 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.'"  But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. NAS

The word "innermost being" is the Greek koilos, meaning hole or empty place. In John 7, Jesus is describing a spiritual empty place in the heart of man. This empty place is the source of thirst and the divine solution to this hunger/thirst is to fill it with living water from the Holy Spirit.