I had a college roommate who was notorious for getting song lyrics wrong. We would practically roll on the floor because her take on the words was so hysterical. Sadly, it’s so many years behind me that I can’t even come up with any “printable” examples. Even more sadly, this dear friend passed away from cancer at the young age of 42, so no reaching out to reminisce about this.
While she was a master at lyric manipulation, we’ve all had our share of words we don’t get quite right, haven’t we? So no judgment from me. Especially when I tell on myself with one of my more recent “misinterpretations.”
I have often described this season of widowhood as having a “hole in my soul” since Dale’s death. It’s a pretty descriptive and even poetic way to characterize the depth of this loss.
So, when a certain Christian band came on the air with one of their popular songs, I was very quick to sing along, at the top of my voice, of course, with the words, “I have this hole, in the depths of my soul!”
If you happen to listen to Christian radio or follow the group Tenth Avenue North, you likely caught my mistake right away. It took me months, maybe even a year, before I finally realized my mistake – and the irony of it!
The correct words are, “I have this hope in the depths of my soul.” Just another “Duh, Lynne” moment!
For any of you who don’t know the song, I’ll post it here because it has great lyrics throughout!
If you’ve stopped chuckling now, you have to admit that there is some sense to my words when you finish out the thought. Let’s see what that looks like, “I have this hole, in the depths of my soul. In the flood or the fire, you’re with me and you won’t let go.”
God has absolutely been with me as I’ve learned how to live with the hole left by Dale’s death.
But I’d like to take a slightly different, more biblical, twist which comes with a question we all must answer. You may have heard the statement that we have a God-shaped hole in our soul that only he can fill.
That’s the direction I want to go for the remainder of this post.
To flesh that out a bit, it tells us that we can search the world, high and low, explore and experience all that this world has to offer (good and bad), but ultimately, nothing will satisfy our deepest longings except Jesus. At least not permanently.
If you haven’t put your faith solidly in Jesus and what he did on the cross for your sins, you may find yourself continually looking for the next best thing to fill that hole.
But, when we repent of our sins, when we understand that we need this Savior, when we ask Jesus to be the Lord of our lives, that empty hole is replaced by the hope that only he can give.
What does that hope entail? Does it mean our life will now be devoid of any trials or troubles? Does it mean the sun shines brightly in our world day in and day out? Does it mean that God will now answer every single prayer that we pray exactly how we want him to?
No, no, and no. If that’s what our lives became, we really wouldn’t need Jesus for the rest of it!
The hope that we get when we place our faith in Christ is this: God walks with us through every trial and trouble. God decides when our lives need some sunshine, and when we need some storms to send us straight to him. And while God does answer prayers, we’ll learn that his answers are ultimately perfect and for our good, even when we can’t see it.
And this hope means that we can live an eternity in the presence of our risen Savior and Almighty God. There is no hope in this whole wide world bigger than that.
So, back to the question I said we must answer. What do you have down deep in your soul? Is it the hope of Christ, or is it the hole left by his absence. Your answer could be life-changing, and my prayer is that you choose hope.
… in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy,
always being prepared to make a defense to anyone
who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.
1 Peter 3:15