Filling in the Blanks
In order to make plans for out-of-town trips this year, we spent quality time placing our activities, appointments, and events on our calendars – Carl, in his Day Timer, and me in my iPhone.
We are well underway with filling in the blanks on our 2024 calendars. We must accomplish this task because we have two family weddings this year as well as attending our grandchildren’s sports activities and events. And, then there are our weekly Bible Studies, ministry events and activities.
It is essential to fill in the blanks because scheduling is important when it comes to our routines and commitments. We are thankful for our calendars – handwritten or electronic – that we can make entries for important dates and appointments. Then there are blanks to be filled in on forms.
Who really enjoys going to a medical appointment and having to fill in all those questions? We like it when we’ve completed forms, outlines, and calendars. It feels so good once all those blanks are filled in. All the gaps closed. All the details disclosed. And all the “why” questions answered to our satisfaction.
But that’s not the way life is. Some questions should be blank. They just don’t have a right or wrong answer. That’s the way God wants it. Our all-knowing God doesn’t want us to know all the answers. In fact, He designed life to be that way.
Without blanks in our lives, we would have no room for Him to enter in and write His answers. For Him to become the WAY when there is no way. For Him to be the TRUTH when lies are consuming our thoughts. For Him to be the LIFE He’s designed for us to have on the other side of our insistence to control our stories and be the author of them.
Our God is not forgetful. He doesn’t make mistakes. He allows spaces and blank places. He leaves room for providential circumstances, surprises and His perfect plan to be working in our lives.
If we had all the blanks filled in, we would explain away God’s part in our story. God doesn’t want to be explained away. He wants to be invited in. He wants us to make room for His additions to our story.
Remember just a couple of weeks ago when we heard the “No room” part of the Christmas Story? God was told, “There is no room,” and He turned an ordinary stable into an extraordinary place of worship. “No room” became a message for us to take to heart daily.
When there is “No room” for God’s intervention, then we fill our rooms and spaces with stuff. But when we allow Him to step in, He creates “moments of amazing grace”, divine interventions and makes circumstances be certain God-winks.
Are the blanks and unanswered questions of your life providing space for God, the way-maker, the chain-breaker, pain-taker, the soul-saver, sin-forgiver, hope-giver Who provides the answers?
Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him and He will direct your steps (AND will fill in the blanks).”