God Is the God of the Gaps

One thing I've always enjoyed during family holidays is doing some kind of activity together. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good conversation, but sooner or later, I want to do something! For the Byer family, that often means board games and, occasionally, puzzles.

One Christmas, my mom put out a rather large puzzle for the kids and grandkids to solve. As I watched the grandkids run around being hyper—doing exactly the same kinds of things I did as a kid—I was certain we'd never finish that puzzle. Elbows, running feet, drinks, cracks and crevices...it seemed pretty likely that some pieces would be lost forever.

To my amazement, though, all the pieces were accounted for, and the puzzle was finished. (One piece was found in the vacuum cleaner, but hey—it was found, so it counts!)

The Pattern in Psalm 107

In Psalm 107, the psalmist praises God because His mercy endures forever. In verses 4–32 (the bulk of the Psalm), he highlights four vivid examples of people in distress who cry out to God and are delivered:

• The Wanderers (v. 4) — travelers lost in the desert, whom God delivers.
• The Prisoners (v. 10) — captives bound in iron chains, whom God frees.
• The Foolish (v. 17) — those in trouble through their own fault, whom God
  rescues and heals.
• The Distressed Sailors (v. 23) — those caught in a violent storm at sea, who
  are brought to safety as God calms the waves.

The circumstances differ, but each group shares one thing in common: none of them were enough in themselves to meet their own need. There were gaps in their knowledge and ability.

The takeaway is simple: For every gap in our life, there is God.

Gaps in My Own Life

Looking back over my life, I can see many gaps—times when I lacked the knowledge, the ability, or both.

My wife and I got married in 1999, and ten days later we began pastoring our first church. Ten days of marriage experience obviously made us expert marriage counselors...or not! We weren't enough, but God was. He filled our gaps with His grace and mercy.

Then there was the time I conducted my first funeral as a young pastor. A family I'd been reaching out to had suffered a tragic tractor accident that had almost instantly taken the father's life. I remember walking under the police tape marking the perimeter of the scene, stepping into the house to try to comfort a hysterical family. The words didn't come easily, but God was there to make up the difference! He is the God in our gaps.

As Psalm 107 shows, there are times we feel like the wanderer—lost, trying to find our way. Other times we feel trapped in unchanging circumstances. And sometimes, we have to admit that some of it was our own fault. The storms rage, and we aren't enough. Again and again, we need the God of the gaps.

Three Takeaways: Reaching Out to God in the Gaps

1. Stop Panicking. That may sound clichéd and simplistic, but I'm serious. It's not as bad, as final, or as absolute as you think. God's mercy endures forever, but your crisis will not. God is infinite; Satan is not. Slow down. Acknowledge the surge of anxiety and emotional distress you're feeling, yes. But choose to commit those feelings to God, even before you feel better.

2. Start Crying. I know what you're thinking: Yeah, no kidding—that's what I'm already doing! But that's not the kind of crying I mean. In every single case in Psalm 107, each group cried out to God in their distress. Psalm 107 doesn't teach us to squelch our emotions; it tells us to channel them toward God.

3. Start Praising. "O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness!" (Psalm 107:8a). When God fills in our gaps, don't forget to praise Him. And even before we receive the answer or the deliverance, we can praise Him—because His track record is perfect. He has never failed.

Conclusion

This morning, your life might feel like that Christmas puzzle. You anxiously wonder how all the pieces will fit together, or even if they're all there. You see the gaps in the picture: the grassy section isn't complete in the lower-right corner, and you're not sure whether that brown piece belongs to the tree trunk, the mailbox, or the front porch. (See…I have worked on puzzles!)

Look to God. He will take all the pieces and, in time, make your life complete.

He is the God of the gaps!