Praying for God to Fill up My EmptinessEsimerkki

Nothingness

Life in this broken world can be cruel. Relentlessly cruel. Life was cruel to a little five-year-old boy named Mephibosheth, who lived on the royal estate owned by his grandfather, King Saul. 

But then, in one day, everything changed. A report came in from Jezreel that his father, his uncles, and his grandfather had all been killed in battle. According to 2 Samuel 4:4, Mephibosheth’s nurse grabbed him to flee to somewhere safe. But in the chaos and fear of the moment, she dropped him. He fell in such a way that both of his feet suffered permanent damage.

A friend of the family living in Lo-debar took him in, but his living conditions changed significantly. Lo-debar wasn’t just on the other side of the tracks; it was literally in the middle of nowhere. For perhaps fifteen years or so, nothing happened. Nobody visited Nowheresville.

But then, one day, everything changed again. 

Mephibosheth was summoned to King David’s presence. Bowing low to the ground before David, perhaps his eyes were squeezed shut in anticipation of a sword coming down on his neck. But instead, words of kindness, promises of provision, and assurances of a future fell on his ears. “Don’t be afraid!” David said. “I intend to show kindness to you because I promised your father, Jonathan. I will give you all the property that once belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will eat here with me at the king’s table!” (2 Samuel 9:7). 

No longer would Mephibosheth live in the land of nothing with nothing. He was going to have a place to call home, a share in the land of promise, an inheritance to pass along to his children, and a place at the king’s table. The kindness of the king had undone the lifetime of cruelties he had experienced. 

Life can be cruel. It can leave us crippled by financial catastrophe, crippled by difficult circumstances, crippled by the cutting words of someone whose opinion matters. But God has not abandoned us to the cruelty of life in this world under a curse. He has not forgotten us. He has not forgotten his covenant promise to show loving-kindness. He is, even now, seeking out those to whom he can show his kindness. If you have so far lingered away from his presence, hear him say to you, “You don’t have anything to be afraid of in my presence. On the cross, my Son, Jesus, became my enemy so you could be my friend. He was put out of the family so you could be adopted into it. He feasted on my wrath and anger so that you can feast forever on my love and mercy.” 

Question to consider: How does this picture of King David’s interaction with Mephibosheth confirm or challenge the way you view King Jesus’ kindness toward you?

Prayer: Lord, I ask you to work in the emptiness of my life, just as you did in Mephibosheth’s life. You sought me out and brought me to yourself, and the day is coming when you will restore to me what the cruelties of life have taken away. You have made a place for me at your table where you want to share life with me day by day, now and into eternity. Fill my life with your generous kindness in such a way that I cannot help but extend your kindness to others.