As I traveled from person to person, thing to thing, place to place, I reached out my hand that contained my empty cup. I did not know how it was going to be filled. Maybe, with reinforcements or positive affirmations. Maybe, it would be filled with attention or promises of love. Sometimes at the risks of having it full, I would even allow it to be filled with the lies and dreams of a future or better tomorrow.
I journeyed through most of my teen life and most of my twenties, certain I knew who I was. I had the security of a loving family and although we had our share of struggles, I knew we were loved unconditionally.
But as I began listening and following other people, I went astray. I wandered down a path that ended in heartache and broken promises.
Because everywhere and everyone I turned to could not quite fill my cup. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t an unhappy person. I enjoyed life, but the more I enjoyed the more I needed to satisfy me. All of it seems to catch up with you when you seek satisfaction through so many outside sources.
Lisa Murray shares her story of restoration from brokenness to peace in her new book Peace For a Lifetime.
“I’ve spent so much time and energy over the course of my life reaching out to others with the hope or expectation that they might love me, fix me, heal me, or even need me. So many times I cried in anguish for what others could not give or fix. But just at the time, I thought my cup was full, I would look down to see all the contents had escaped and once again I was empty.” (page 65)
She continues on to say,
“We only have one healer and He is Jesus Christ. He is the one to whom we should run with our pain, our fear, our loneliness, and our desperation. He stands waiting in that place of solitude to heal us, to free us, to strengthen us.” (page 65)
I had gone through life in this condition. Although I knew Christ as Savior, He was the last one I turned to. In fact, for a very long time, He was the one I was running from.
As I searched for everything and everyone around to make me feel happy, loved, safe, secure, needed, and desirable. I came up empty.
The truth is what I was seeking in everyone and everything could only be fulfilled in Jesus.
Now, I am married to an amazing man but it would not be fair of me to expect him to fulfill in my heart what only God can.
I have wonderful children but honestly, even with all their excitement and love for me, my cup still gets empty.
I can go through life being frustrated that the people who matter to me the most cannot satisfy me or I can come to the realization that they were never meant to.
There is a beautiful story in John 4:1-26 about a woman who came to a well to draw water. Jesus is traveling from Judea to Galilee and on the way the Bible says Hehad to pass through Samaria. I love that Jesus had a meeting that the recipient of the meeting was completely unaware of, yet after meeting Him, her life would never be the same.
So Jesus goes to this certain well and asks this woman to give him a drink. They do this interesting exchange of words back and forth. Jesus responds to her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
Living. Water. Life-sustaining water that would never make you thirst again. What a gift. Deeper in conversation, Jesus tells her to go get her husband. She says she does not have a husband. He replies, “In fact you have had five husbands and the man you are living with now is not your husband.”
Here is a woman, immediately interested in this living water that Jesus is talking about. Why? She has tried to fill her cup many times, and the proof is in her cup continually ending up dry. Jesus points out even now she is making another attempt at it with yet another man. Jesus knows. He knows her heart and He knows our hearts.
Our hearts were never meant to be filled with anything or anyone, except Jesus!
If you are reading this today and you feel this same strain in your life, waiting for your cup to be filled and finding it quickly runs dry, seek the true source of life-giving water. Seek Jesus. Lisa Murray's new book, Peace For A Lifetime, is now available! And I am so excited to be able to share a bit of it here with you. As part of Lisa's launch team (I was given a copy to read) Thanks to Lisa's generosity, I am able to give a copy away. The thing I love about this book is it is not just another self-help book, it is full of God-centered healing. This is a book that you will want in you own personal library, so sign up to win or get a copy today! Lisa is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in spiritual, emotional, and relational healing. As a result of her own personal and professional experiences, Lisa is passionate about helping others find wholeness and healing. This is open to US Residents, 18 years and older.
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The truth is what I was seeking in everyone and everything could only be fulfilled in Jesus. 
Our hearts were never meant to be filled with anything or anyone, except Jesus!
Lisa Murray's new book, Peace For A Lifetime, is now available! And I am so excited to be able to share a bit of it here with you. As part of Lisa's launch team (I was given a copy to read) Thanks to Lisa's generosity, I am able to give a copy away. The thing I love about this book is it is not just another self-help book, it is full of God-centered healing.
While you're here, sit down with some of my friends. They are amazing writers with so many great stories to share with you. Just clink on a link below and you will go directly to their site where you can get to know them more. 