The thing is though, I hear this all the time--"Let Jesus fill that empty place in your heart!" and of course, it's not that I don't agree, but God made us to need other people and other things in life as well (fulfilling work, family, etc.) What always gets my goat is that people tell you to let Jesus fill the emptiness, but they never tell you HOW. I've spent several years trying to figure this out myself by doing what I felt was all church/Godly people mandated advice--basically throwing yourself and your life into church, classes, ministry, and service to others... and I've still felt that gaping, all-encompassing hole in my heart.
If someone tells another person that they need to "fill that place with Jesus," please also be kind enough to tell us HOW. I've written about this extensively in other posts--one thing I found that I actually enjoyed doing was talking to inmates about their lives and what God can still do despite the choices they'd made, but my pastors insisted I stop doing this, fearful for my safety. I completely respect this, but am waiting for another opportunity in the future, as I feel it's something God made me to do. But, for now, that's one of the empty places I have in my heart.
God didn't just place Adam in the garden and say, "Ok, Adam, here you are, and I'm everything that you need!! So why don't you just sit there on your duff and you and I can just kick back all day because I'm right here with you and that's all you need to fulfill the life I've just breathed into you!" No, God had work for Adam to do... and eventually, people for him to be around. In fact, God tells us that if we really believe and have Him in our lives, we are to seek out these kinds of things--the purpose He has for us, the people He's called us to reach, and the places we are being led to go. It's a lot more than just sitting there and saying, "Jesus is all I need." In fact, if that's ALL one is doing... they're probably not fulfilling what God had called them to fully do with their lives.
Jesus Himself had God with Him in a way no one else could possibly understand or experience, but yet, he choose to surround himself and seek out friends, family, and meaningful work. In the Garden of Gethsemane and at the Cross, Jesus felt loss and emptiness--the hole of all holes in his heart--as we could never know. God fills us with his presence through various means, and sometimes some of those means are missing.
This, of course, also doesn't mean we HAVE to have a significant other--I know God said it wasn't good for the man to be alone but that was in Adam's specific case. We all have different callings and that may nor may not include a spouse. have read that Paul at one time was married but whether his wife died or left, it seems he chose to remain unmarried afterwards... Perhaps God put this in his heart because otherwise, he wouldn't be able to concentrate on writing most of the New Testament if he had a wife and family.
So... I would say that the biggest hole in my heart is that lovely, well-meaning people always tell me WHAT to do (and I've grown up in church my whole life) but they never really explain how to do it... and when I try to step out and do what they've told me, they say, "STOP!! What were you thinking!! Are you crazy???!!! We want you to quit doing this immediately!!" Kind of ironic and more than frustrating, but I'm trying to figure out what God has for me just like everyone else.
