We can mask the void with anything. If someone asked you if you are “self-medicating,” your initial response might be, “Well, of course.” We have made it through this season with a variety of things: wine, wine and wine, Netflix, online shopping, Instagram, baking, work, or even just busyness. We joke about self-medicating, and it’s funny and self-deprecating, but there is something better.
Even if we wouldn’t say it out loud, some vices have a grip on us. We may think, “I just need the break,” or we are scared we can’t stop. We won’t stop self-medicating until we have something better to fill the void.
The vices themselves may not be a big deal themselves if we can control them, but when we use them to fill the gap created to be filled by God, it takes our eyes off the prize, and our best life gradually slips past us. We drift from the gal we know in our gut we were created to be to a gal who is getting by.
Our souls cry out to be made one with our God. We need to know what He says about us, and when we do, our hearts are filled with the life we were created to live. That life is not boring, it is intoxicating…but in ways that will last.
There is a “best life,” and it’s close at hand. It’s available; it doesn’t cost more than your Target Red Card can provide and will leave you sober enough to pick your kids up from school (if they ever get to go back). It won’t lead you to numb. It will lead you to breathless.
I wonder if there is more to life than you are currently experiencing and if it can only be found when you ask God to fill the gaps. Find out what He has to say about you. Let Him tell you your story, ask Him to write it on your heart. Ask Him to set you free, and then next time you run to your cabinet to cover the gap, decide to show up for your life. Choosing Jesus over everything will be the first step to doing just that.
HLLF,
