Empty Hangers

This morning's car ride starts with a question.  Before I can begin to gather my answer together, fold it neatly into a tidy playful paper airplane and send it zipping behind me to the backseat, another shoots forward, and another, and another, like I am suddenly under attack.

Coming face to face with my own inability to adequately answer each one, I call for silence and politely announce, “No more questions,” to my two curious co-pilots. 

In the quiet, I remember my own questions.  The ones that seem silly, the wonder-questions, the what-ifs, and the questions that I cannot even utter. 

Questions are like hangers.  They are meant to be dressed with answers.

Some hangers are made of wire and covered with t-shirts; others are more sophisticated with their sports coats and suits.  Small plastic painted hangers display teeny tiny newborn onesies while padded, elegant hangers hold up long, flowing wedding gowns.

  

Hangers are meant to be covered. 

Questions are meant to be answered.

No one dreams of a closet with rows and rows of empty hangers.  The joy is in the outfit, the possibility, the wonder of selecting and pairing and starting over if it doesn’t work out the first time.  An empty hanger is bare, naked. I do not like empty hangers, and I am terrified of the question that hangs without answer. 

Solutions are safe.  The possibility that there may not be one is risky, even dangerous.  A neatly packaged explanation is comforting; walking away without an answer is so incredibly uncomfortable. 

So what do we do with our empty hangers?
 

I want so badly to drape clothing that covers here. 

I seek beautiful, coordinating layers that balance and complement one another.

I long for accessories that polish the look and seem as if they were made for this. 

I crave a sense of tidiness, put-togetherness, and completion.

I want a solution.

Answers are filled with hope.  But could an empty hanger bring hope as well? 

Jesus hanging on a cross, bloody and bruised, was God’s solution.  The wooden hanger that held God's Solution to the fall of man was spoken of for centuries before the Answer was hung.  God was faithful then.  He is faithful now. 

 
Every question’s answer is Jesus.  He is the Answer the world waited for, not attractive or neat or tidy, but every bit perfect and complete.  God’s solution gave us Life.  God’s answer rescued us from darkness.  God explained Himself to us through Jesus, and He granted us peace through Jesus’ blood.  There was no other answer- only this perfect solution. 

If this was God’s most profound answer, might we find Hope here?  Instead of fearing the empty hanger, might we trust God, the Answer-Giver?   

Listen to the words of the prophet Isaiah... 

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
My soul shall be joyful in my God;
For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Isaiah 61:10

 
The empty hanger is necessary.  Jesus is God’s solution who hung there.  He is the Answer, the One who holds all things together.  No matter what the question may be, Jesus is enough.  The question may linger for years, for days, or mere seconds.   

God can handle the questions that hang unanswered- your curious questions as well as the questions that knot together in the deepest parts of your soul.  Hand them over to the Answer-Giver who came up with the perfect solution.  Then inhale Peace and grab onto Hope and be filled with Joy, knowing that Jesus covers you completely and perfectly.  The hanger may be empty, but you are dressed in Life, in Freedom, and in Beauty.