Edit Topic

Prose

View

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8" />
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
<title>The Emptiness Within—Only God Can Fill the Void in Our Hearts</title>
<style>
:root { --brand:#b9972c; --brand-2:#d4af37; --gold-50:#fdfcf6; --gold-500:#c2a94d; --gold-600:#8a6f1a; --navy-600:#1b2a49; --navy-700:#152038; --surface:#fff; --shadow:0 2px 5px rgba(0,0,0,.08); --measure:680px; }

html, body {
  overflow: hidden; -webkit-overflow-scrolling:touch;
  -webkit-text-size-adjust:100%;
  font-family: Georgia, "Source Serif Pro", serif;
  background:var(--gold-50); color:var(--navy-700);
  margin:0; padding:0;
}
@supports (height: 100svh) {
  html { height: -webkit-fill-available; }
  body { min-height: 100svh; }
}
@supports not (height: 100svh) {
  html { height: -webkit-fill-available; }
  body { min-height: -webkit-fill-available; }
}

header { max-width:var(--measure); margin:0 auto; padding:2rem 1rem; }
h1 {
  text-align: center;
  color: var(--gold-600);
  font-weight: 700;
  font-size: 2rem;
  margin: 0 0 1rem;
}

article {font-size:1.15rem;
  max-width:var(--measure);
  margin:0 auto 2rem;
  padding:1rem;
  background:var(--surface);
  box-shadow:var(--shadow);
  border-radius:12px;
}
article::after { content:""; display:block; clear:both; }

p { margin:1em 0; line-height:1.6; }
p.lead { font-size:1.15rem; }
.dropcap:first-letter {
  float:left; font-size:2.6rem; font-weight:700; color:var(--brand);
  margin:.1rem .45rem 0 0; line-height:1;
}

h2, h3 {
  color:var(--navy-600);
  border-bottom:2px solid var(--brand);
  padding-bottom:.25em; margin-top:2em;
}
a { color:var(--navy-600); text-decoration:underline; }
a[target="_blank"] { rel:noopener; }

blockquote {
  background:#fffaf1ff; border-left:4px solid var(--gold-500);
  margin:1.5em 0; padding:.75em 1em; font-style:italic;
}
.pullquote {
  font-size:1.25rem; font-weight:600; color:var(--gold-600);
  margin:1.5em 0; text-align:center;
}
.scripture {
  background:#fffaf1ff; border-left:4px solid var(--navy-600);
  padding:.75em 1em; margin:1.5em 0; font-style:italic;
}
.scripture .ref {
  display:block; text-align:right; font-style:normal;
  font-weight:600; margin-top:.5em;
}

ul { list-style:none; padding-left:1.2em; margin:1em 0; }
ul li::before { content:"•"; color:var(--brand); margin-right:.5em; }
ol { margin:1em 0 1em 1.2em; }

.summary-box {
  background:#fffaf1ff; border:1px solid var(--gold-500);
  padding:1em; border-radius:8px; margin:1.5em 0;
}

body, article { overflow-wrap:anywhere; word-break:break-word; }
img, svg, video, iframe { max-width:100%; height:auto; display:block; }
pre { white-space:pre-wrap; overflow:auto; }
body, header, article { overflow-x:clip; }
</style>
</head>
<body>

<h1>The Emptiness Within</h1>

<article>
  <p class="lead dropcap">We all feel it—that ache deep within the human soul. It’s a longing that no success, relationship, or pleasure can ever fully quiet. We chase after meaning, grasping at achievements or people or possessions, hoping this time it will be enough. For a fleeting moment, we might feel satisfied, but soon the emptiness returns. Why? Because this hunger points beyond the world we can see.</p>

<h2>The Eternal Longing Within</h2>

<blockquote>“He has set eternity in the human heart.”<br>— <em>Ecclesiastes 3:11</em></blockquote>

<p>That verse tells us something profound: we were created with eternity in our hearts. Our souls are not designed for temporary things—they’re tuned to the infinite. It’s like trying to fill a vast ocean with sand; no matter how much we pour in, it will never be enough. The heart was made for God, and until it rests in Him, it will always wander, always ache, always hunger.</p>

<h2>Why Nothing Else Can Satisfy</h2>

<p>Everything in this world is limited and fading. Wealth can be lost, pleasure turns to pain, approval fades, and success becomes yesterday’s news. Even the greatest human love, as beautiful as it is, cannot bear the weight of our eternal need. That’s because <strong>created things were never meant to replace the Creator</strong>.</p>

<p>Our desires are not the problem—they’re clues. The longing for love points to the God who is love. The desire for beauty points to the One who is perfectly beautiful. The yearning for meaning points to the Author of all purpose. When we look to created things to fill the Creator’s place, we end up frustrated and hollow.</p>

<h2>The God Who Alone Can Fill the Void</h2>

<p>Only God is infinite, eternal, and unchanging. Only He can fill an infinite, eternal, unchanging need.</p>

<ul>
    <li><strong>He is our Source.</strong> Without Him, we are cut off from life itself.</li>
    <li><strong>He is our Identity.</strong> Apart from Him, we lose who we were made to be—His image-bearers, created for fellowship with Him.</li>
    <li><strong>He is our Joy.</strong> Every pleasure in this life is a whisper of His goodness, but He alone is the fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11).</li>
  </ul>

<p>When sin entered the world, we were separated from the very One who sustains our souls. That separation created the void—the spiritual famine that drives people to search endlessly in all the wrong places.</p>

<blockquote>“Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.”<br>— <em>John 4:14</em></blockquote>

<p>But God did not leave us empty. Out of love, He came Himself—to restore what was lost. Jesus Christ entered our broken world, took our sin upon Himself, and opened the way back to fullness.</p>

<p>The cross is where emptiness meets fullness—where human longing meets divine love. In Jesus, the God-shaped void within us is finally filled. His Spirit takes residence in our hearts, not as a temporary comfort, but as the very presence of God restoring us to what we were meant to be: alive, loved, and whole.</p>

<h2>The Fulfillment We Were Made For</h2>

<p>The peace you’ve longed for, the belonging you’ve chased, the joy you’ve tasted but could never keep—all of it finds its true home in Him.</p>

<ul>
    <li>The world offers distractions; <strong>knowing God brings true joy.</strong></li>
    <li>The world offers comfort that fades; <strong>God gives peace that endures.</strong></li>
    <li>The world offers temporary pleasure; <strong>God gives eternal satisfaction.</strong></li>
  </ul>

<p>If you feel that emptiness today, don’t see it as failure—it’s an invitation. It’s your soul crying out for its true home.</p>

<h2>A Simple Prayer</h2>

<div class="summary-box">
    <p><em>God, I admit I’ve tried to fill my heart with things that can’t satisfy. I’ve looked everywhere but to You. Thank You for sending Jesus to bear my sin and bring me back to You. I turn to You now—fill me with Your presence, Your love, and Your life. Make me whole in You. Amen.</em></p>
  </div>

<p><strong>Only God can fill what He created.</strong> You were made to be filled by Him, and in Jesus Christ, that fullness is offered freely and forever.</p>
</article>
</body>
</html>

Edit Topic ID: 10050

All Topics