The Empty Box

What if I told you that Satan is in the business of selling empty boxes?

Recently, someone close to me purchased a product, brought it home, opened the box, and found ... nothing. Stolen. Empty. What looked promising on the outside held absolutely nothing on the inside.

Simple enough to fix, right? Just return it.

Except nothing about it was simple.

The nearest store was two hours away. They looked at the empty box, and said they couldn't take it back: it was purchased at a different location. Never mind that all their computers are connected. The employee even admitted that if the product hadn't been stolen, she would have taken it back. Corporate was called. Corporate couldn't help either. They said the return had to be handled at the original store: another 40 miles further down the road.

So back in the car they went.

When they finally arrived at the original location, the store refused to process the return without a specific credit card that wasn't on hand. Wouldn't do it online. Wouldn't find another way. After pushing back, they finally agreed to an exchange: swapping the empty box for one that actually had the product inside.

Victory. Finally.

They drove home. Opened the box. The accessory didn't fit the original product.

Back to square one.

So they made the trip again. Loaded up. Drove out. Got to the store.

And forgot the card.

However, that is exactly what the enemy does. He markets his offerings in amazing ways. The packaging looks great and the promise feels real. Yet, when you finally get it home, sitting alone with what the world sold you, the box is empty.

Every single time.

And when you start searching for something real to fill that emptiness, he throws up every roadblock he can. Wrong store. Wrong card. Wrong location. Drive further. Start over. Wrong accessory. Start over again.

He is absolutely relentless in keeping you from the one thing that can actually fill you.

And sometimes — and this is the humbling part — he doesn't even have to show up. Sometimes we are our own obstacle. We know what we need. We know what it's going to cost us. We know what to bring. And we still walk out the door unprepared. That's not a demonic attack. That's just us, being ... frustratingly human.

And yet, God's goodness meets us there too.

Jesus told the story of a merchant who found one pearl of great price and sold everything he had to obtain it. Not because he was desperate. Because he had seen enough empty boxes to recognize the real thing when he finally found it. He didn't quit when the search was hard or settle for something that almost fit.

Christ doesn't offer you a package that looks full but leaves you hollow. He is the substance behind the promise. He reaches into the emptiness — the addiction, the grief, the failure, the longing that nothing in this world has ever been able to satisfy — and He fills it completely.

The enemy will make the journey difficult. We will sometimes make it harder on ourselves. But neither his roadblocks nor our own forgetfulness change what's waiting for us on the other side of perseverance.

Don't quit. Go back. Do it until you get it right!

Keep pressing, Palominas Chapel. What you're looking for is here and worth every trip.

Matthew 13:45-46 — "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it."

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