The Cove

There was a young girl on a journey who climbed to the top of some cliffs surrounding the sea and looked out to see a little cove. She had never seen such a desolate sight in all of her life--it was so empty and barren. It seemed as though it longed to be filled, but it was not. 

This is often the same way we are with our hearts--we long to have them filled with love, but we turn to the wrong things to fill them. We create idols to alleviate the void, but they are never enough. Our idols cannot fill all of the nooks of our heart--there is only one thing that can fill it and our heart aches in longing for that one thing to fill it. I recently read John Piper's "Discerning Idolatry in Desire" (http://ow.ly/eFJG). This article reminded me that idolatry is desiring God's gift more than God Himself/when the gift doesn't point us to God in gratitude/when its loss makes us lose faith in God's goodness/when its loss paralyzes us emotionally, etc... Read the article--it's amazing! 

Later in the journey, the young girl climbed to the top of the cliffs again and looked down into the cove--and was amazed by what she saw! The cove was full to the brim with waves that seemed to laugh and dance in joy. It no longer looked empty and desolate because now every crevice in the cove was full. The high tide and the cove were a perfect match. Similarly, our hearts will be full of joy when we allow God to fill them as only He can. He will take up every nook.

Some of this was paraphrased from "Hinds' Feet on High Places" by Hannah Hurnard.